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2017-2018 Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
Course List by Subject
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Academic Resource Centers
MAT 100 - Mathematics Laboratory 1 credits (Fall and Spring)
A one credit course recommended for students who want to review high school math skills before taking a college class or while concurrently enrolled in an introductory calculus or statistics course.
Note: May be repeated once for credit with permission of the director. Instruction in basic math skills is available without credit for all students. S/D/F only.
Instructor: Bourgeois Parson
RED 100 - Reading Laboratory 1 credits (Fall and Spring)
Individual and small-group instruction in reading and study skills, emphasizing reading efficiency, vocabulary building, and methods of effective study (concentrating, time management, preparing for tests, etc.). Recommended to students who have difficulty keeping up with reading assignments or understanding and remembering what they read as well as for those international students who want to improve their English language proficiency and pronunciation. Diagnostic test administered to determine individual needs. May be repeated once for credit, with permission of the director.
Note: Students may work at the Reading Lab without registering. S/D/F only
Instructor: Mohan
SCI 100 - Science Laboratory 1 credits (Fall and Spring)
Individual or small-group instruction emphasizing problem-solving skills. This class must be taken in conjunction with first-year sequences in physics, chemistry, or biology. May be repeated once for credit with permission of the director.
Prerequisite: Consultation with the related course instructor and permission of the director of the science lab are required.
Note: Instruction is available without credit to students who cannot take the course or who need only occasional assistance. S/D/F only
Instructor: Mahlab
SCI 240 - Science Education Methods 1 credits
This discussion seminar is open to all students who have taken at least one year of science, and is encouraged for those students who are biology and chemistry student mentors, science laboratory teaching assistants, or students interested in pursuing a career in science teaching. This class will review some of the current literature in science education and focuses on examining the stages of the teaching and learning process and tools for improving teaching and learning.
Prerequisite: One year (two semesters) of biology, chemistry, mathematics/computer science, physics, or psychology; and permission of the instructor.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Mahlab
WRT 101 - Basic Principles of College Writing 1 credits (Fall and Spring)
In this course students attend a series of weekly workshops on the basics of academic composition as well as individual appointments in the Writing Lab to apply those basic principles to their assigned writing in other courses.
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Half-semester deadlines apply. S/D/F only
Instructor: Staff
WRT 102 - Advanced Principles of College Writing 2 credits (Fall and Spring)
Using both small group sessions and individual Writing Lab appointments, this course focuses on writing as a tool of analysis and critical thinking. Some required writing and revision.
Prerequisite: WRT 101
Note: Half-semester deadlines apply. S/D/F only
Instructor: Staff
WRT 120 - Oral Communication Skills 2 credits (Spring)
Students will present a series of persuasive and informational speeches to a variety of audiences, receiving feedback from both instructor and classmates. Some reading and class preparation required.
Prerequisite: None.
S/D/F only
Instructor: Staff
WRT 150 - Teaching Writing 2 credits (Fall or Spring)
Cross-listed as: EDU 150 . Students in Writing 150 will gain both theoretical knowledge and hands-on experience as they serve as writing mentors for college courses or teach writing as volunteers in other contexts (e.g., prison programs, schools, peer tutoring). They will read about theories of teaching writing, practice skills of tutoring, running workshops and facilitating peer review, observe the teaching of writing in several contexts, and engage in discourse (both oral and written) about the teaching and learning of writing skills.
Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
S/D/F only
Instructor: CarlAlternate Language Study Option (ALSO) Program
No Active Courses Available American Studies
AMS 130 - Introduction to American Studies 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
An examination of selected beliefs and values that have been central to the shaping of American life and culture. Core values such as equality, individualism, success, freedom, a sense of special mission, pastoralism, and others are treated in topical units that range over the totality of American experience.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Barlow, Hansen
AMS 211 - Invention of Race and the Africanist Presence in American Studies 4 credits (Fall)
This interdisciplinary course introduces key issues and themes related to the evolution theories of race with particular attention to the experience of people and communities of the African diaspora. The readings are particularly intended to foster critical thinking about race as an idea and practice and representations of “identities” and “communities of meaning.” Course material consists of scholarly and popular texts, including films and law reviews in order to focus on the socio-political implications and global impact of constructing narratives about the African diaspora in and outside the United States.
Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
Instructor: Gibel Mevorach
AMS 220 - Racing Through Genetics 4 credits (Spring)
See BIO 220 or ANT 220 .
AMS 235 - The Anthropology of American Culture 4 credits (Spring)
See ANT 235 .
AMS 245 - Shaping American Identities in Moving Images 4 credits (Fall)
This course explores representations of American identities and the binaries generated by these explorations including here/there, foreign/local, abroad/ home, American/Other. Films and readings will highlight the theme of amalgamation as an alchemic process (the melting pot) shaping Americanness and its association with characteristics such as respectability, recognition and respect.
Prerequisite: one 100-level Humanities or Social Studies course.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Foreign language option available in any language for +2 only.
Instructor: Gibel Mevorach
AMS 275 - Topics in American Culture 4 credits (Fall)
An interdisciplinary investigation of selected problems, trends, or themes in American culture, such as regionalism, popular culture, mass communication, minority cultures, women’s lives, and other engaging issues central to American experience.
Prerequisite: AMS 130 and second-year standing. American Studies Concentrators have first priority.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Staff
AMS 275-01 - Topics in American Culture: American Journey 4 credits (Fall)
What do an Ex-radical Black Panther member (Kesho Scott) and an Ex-International athlete (Will Freeman) have in common and how did a chance luncheon change them? This course will answer that question. It is a sharing of journeys as well as a survey of the power of the American Journey to the American experience and identity. Come join us! Why do we explore what is out there? What is your story, your journey thus far? How have previous road trips shaped you? How do our journeys help us answer the larger questions of meaning and purpose in our lives? This course is an interdisciplinary examination of journey and road trips through deep introspection, self-discovery, and transformation narratives. American journeys and road trips find themselves in history, literature, psychology, film, and popular culture. Through these disciplinary lenses, students will compare and contrast, and critically examine the journeys and road trips of both groups and individuals like J.B. Grinnell, Joseph Campbell, Lewis and Clarke, Daniel Boone, Thoreau, Lindbergh, Heat-Moon, Kerouac, Strayed, Mills, Steinbeck, and the larger journeys of women and slaves in this country’s history. Even the journeys of YOUR professor will be examined. The themes of the course include: Defining the Journey-The Hero’s Journey and Learning about ourselves through our journeys; Tourist Vs Traveller; Individual and Collective Journeys and how they have shaped us; Gender Dynamics and the Road Trip; The Intersection of Risk, Transformation, and National Identity; Self-Development through the Road Trips-How our journeys define us; Building Community through journeys across generations.
Prerequisite: AMS 130 and second-year standing.
Instructor: Scott, W. Freeman
AMS 295-01 - Special Topic: Migrants, Refugees, and Diasporas 4 credits Spring)
See SOC 295-01 or PCS 295-01 .
Instructor: Quinsaat
AMS 305 - The Cultural Politics of Fashion 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
See ANT 305 .
Anthropology
ANT 104 - Anthropological Inquiries 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
Demonstrates how the four fields of anthropology - archeology, biological anthropology, sociocultural anthropology, and linguistic anthropology - can be collectively applied to enhance our understanding the human condition in broad historical and cross-cultural contexts. Individual sections focus on different topics. All introduce students to the holistic approach of anthropology, the application of anthropological theories and methods and relevant ethical questions, and a multiplicity of worldviews. For current course content, please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Staff
ANT 104-01 - Anthropological Inquiries 4 credits (Spring)
What Makes Us Human? We can all classify “human” vs. “nonhuman” when we see one. However, what are our criteria? Is it our physiology (e.g., bipedalism), our DNA (e.g., 26 chromosomes), our stuff (e.g., tools), our language (e.g., “mama”), our culture (e.g., religion)? We will examine how anthropology addresses this issue and where the different anthropological approaches over-lap. Students will conduct selected hands-on research addressing various aspects of the “what makes us human” question.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Bentley-Condit
ANT 104-01 & 02 - Anthropological Inquiries 4 credits (Fall)
Family. The purpose of this course is to introduce students to anthropology through a specific thematic lens: families. What is family? Who is family? How is family life similar and/or different in different societies and cultures? In this course, we will attempt to answer these questions through anthropology’s holistic, cross-cultural perspective. Among the specific topics we will look at are the social institutions of family, love, gender roles, childhood, migration, etc.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Kulstad
ANT 104-02 & 03 - Anthropological Inquiries 4 credits (Spring)
Family. The purpose of this course is to introduce students to anthropology through a specific thematic lens: families. What is family? Who is family? How is family life similar and/or different in different societies and cultures? In this course, we will attempt to answer these questions through anthropology’s holistic, cross-cultural perspective. Among the specific topics we will look at are the social institutions of family, love, gender roles, childhood, migration, etc.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Kulstad
ANT 104-03 - Anthropological Inquiries 4 credits (Fall)
Community. This course considers the origin, development, and transformation of human social groups over time and space. It begins with attention to early human ancestors and evolving relationships among social organization, subsistence strategies, and environmental conditions. It then considers variation in forms and functions of social communities and the multiplicity of meanings communities have for kin, local, linguistic, ethnic, religious, national, and transnational groups and institutions.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: B. French
ANT 200 - Cultural Politics of Hybridity 4 credits
This course examines anthropology’s contribution to the taxonomy and representations of “race” and “culture” and its role in prescribing and proscribing the idea of interracial intimacy. Over the course of the semester, we will examine how the topic of mixing and miscegenation was invented, elaborated, and obsessed over by anthropologists, philosophers, judges, policymakers, film directors, and people raced as “mixed.” Primary attention will be given to ideas about mixing in the United States as a location from which to compare perspectives of social difference, “purity,” and “hybridity” in other countries.
Prerequisite: ANT 104 , or SOC 111 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Gibel Mevorach
ANT 201 - Leading Innovation and Entrepreneurship 4 credits (Fall)
Cross-listed as: SST 201 . This course, sponsored by the Wilson Center for Innovation and Leadership, takes a case-study approach to understanding leadership and management of innovations, or generating solutions to social, economic, and environmental problems, using case studies by alumni innovators. We start, of course, with Grinnell’s most famous entrepreneur, Robert Noyce. This course covers a broad range of fields, bringing in new case studies each year. Many of the alumni from whom we draw case studies will visit class.
Prerequisite: One course in the social studies division (Anthropology, Education, History, Economics, Sociology, Social Studies or Political Science).
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Caulkins
ANT 202 - Sustainability and Social Responsibility in Organizations 4 credits (Spring)
Cross-listed as: SST 202 . Sponsored by the Wilson Center for Innovation and Leadership. The concepts of ecological, economic, and social sustainability in organizations will be examined in detail. Similarly, we will examine the expanding practice of corporate social responsibility, which was pioneered by Howard Bowen, President of Grinnell College from 1955 to 1963. We will find these practices of sustainability and social responsibility require leadership and innovation, practices embedded in Grinnell culture.
Prerequisite: One course in the social studies division (Anthropology, Education, History, Economics, Sociology, Social Studies or Political Science).
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Caulkins
ANT 205 - Human Evolution 4 credits
An in-depth examination of the evolution of humankind as part of an evolutionary continuum of primates stretching back approximately 65 million years, with an emphasis on the hominids of the past 4 million years. There is a heavy emphasis on comparative anatomy. Topics covered include bipedalism, molecular data, the brain and language, and various interpretations of hominid origins.
Prerequisite: ANT 104 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Bentley-Condit
ANT 210 - Illness, Healing, and Culture 4 credits
This course examines beliefs about illness, healing, and the body across cultures. We will examine how the body, illness, health, and medicine are shaped not only by cultural values, but also by social, political, and historical factors. The class will draw attention to how biomedicine is only one among many culturally constructed systems of medicine.
Prerequisite: ANT 104 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Tapias
ANT 220 - Racing Through Genetics 4 credits (Spring)
See BIO 220 or AMS 220 .
ANT 221 - Primate Behavior and Taxonomy 4 credits
A comparative survey of the taxonomy, behavior, and ecology of nonhuman primates. Topics include demography and life-history patterns, feeding behavior and competition, social organization, sexual behavior, infant development, communication, and cognition.
Prerequisite: ANT 104 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Bentley-Condit
ANT 225 - Human Variation 4 credits
This course explores the interaction of genetics and culture with our understanding of human evolution through: a) an examination of human differentiation and genetic variation between and within human groups; and b) an exploration of how human evolution has been shaped by this interaction. Possible topics include: simple and complex inheritance, population genetics, human migration, gene frequencies, genetics and disease, genetics and IQ, race, gene therapy, designer babies, cloning, and the Human Genome Project.
Prerequisite: ANT 104 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Bentley-Condit
ANT 227 - Mothers and Infants 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
In this course, we will examine mothers, mother-infant relationships and infant development across the primate order and cross-culturally from an evolutionary perspective and with focus on biology. Topics will include but are not limited to: parental investment theory, parent-offspring conflict theory, attachment theory, conception, pregnancy, gestation, lactation, human and nonhuman primate infant development and trajectories, infant sex differences, and infanticide.
Prerequisite: ANT 104 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Bentley-Condit
ANT 235 - The Anthropology of American Culture 4 credits (Spring)
Cross-listed as: AMS 235 . Focus on the U.S. American cultural meanings about national identity and citizenship, intersections of race and class consciousness, and the power of media to shape social attitudes, values, lifestyles, and political opinions.
Prerequisite: AMS 130 or ANT 104 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Foreign language option available in any language for +2 only.
Instructor: Gibel Mevorach
ANT 238 - Cultural and Political Ecology 4 credits
Reviews various cultural anthropology approaches to understanding human/ environment interactions. Focus placed on case studies of small-scale societies from distinct environmental regions, the adaptations to those environments, how subsistence practices relate to other aspects of culture, and how these cultures and environments are affected by increasing integration into the world system (e.g., through globalization).
Prerequisite: ANT 104 or GDS 111 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Roper
ANT 240 - Intentional Communities 4 credits
A cross-cultural and historical survey of attempts to achieve social harmony by creating small communities. Topics include: ideological foundations, alternative economic and political arrangements, experiments with sexuality and gender roles, responses of the wider society, and reasons for success and failure. Groups include the first-century Essenes, the Shakers, Amana, the Hutterites, the Amish, the kibbutzim, Japanese communes, hip communes, monastic groups, and New Age communities.
Prerequisite: ANT 104 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Andelson
ANT 246 - Anthropology of the Modern Middle East and North Africa 4 credits
The modern Middle East in anthropological and historical perspective. Topics include nomadic, village, and urban lifestyles; ethnic interactions; Islam and its role in the social and political systems; the role of women; and cultural change.
Prerequisite: ANT 104 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Kamp
ANT 250 - Language Contact 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Cross-listed as: LIN 250 . The course examines the linguistic varieties and practices that emerge when linguistically diverse groups come in contact with one another. We will discuss the types of situations that give rise to language contact and then turn to look at the linguistic effects that result from such contact at both the micro (e.g. borrowing, code-switching) and the macro (e.g. language shift, language death) level.
Prerequisite: ANT 104 or LIN 114 .
Instructor: Hansen
ANT 251 - Native North American Indian Cultures 4 credits
Historical and ethnological survey of aboriginal cultures of North American Indians and the impact of European civilization. Indian history, ethnography, and the contemporary situation.
Prerequisite: ANT 104 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Andelson
ANT 252 - Culture and Agriculture 4 credits
An overview of the relationship of agriculture to other aspects of culture, through time and cross-culturally. The origins of agriculture, the role of agriculture in subsistence and trade, and its connection to social structure, religion, and values. The rise of industrial agriculture and agriculture in Iowa.
Prerequisite: ANT 104 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Andelson
ANT 253 - Anthropology of Ethnicities 4 credits
Examination of shifts in theory and approach to studies of ethnicities. Topics include history of key concepts, including “ethnicity,” “ethnic identities,” and “culture,” as well as perspectives on racism as a system, education and acculturation, class and ethnicity, and nationalism.
Prerequisite: ANT 104 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Gibel Mevorach
ANT 257 - Latin American Cultures 4 credits
Ethnographic and historic study of Latin American cultures. Description and analysis of native cultures and colonialism’s impact on native peoples’ lives. Current trends in Latin America analyzed, including family, economy, religion, environment, urbanism, and social issues. Women and gender issues in Latin America also considered.
Prerequisite: ANT 104 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Staff
ANT 260 - Language, Culture, and Society 4 credits
The course provides an overview of current topics in linguistic anthropology, the study of human language in its structural and cultural contexts. Through class lectures, readings, and discussions, students will become familiar with key issues, themes, and theories about language in contemporary anthropological and sociolinguistic scholarship. Overall, the course is designed to encourage students to become critical thinkers about the ways that language and language use affect and are affected by grammatical structures, individuals, social groups, cultural practices, and politics.
Prerequisite: ANT 104 or LIN 114 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: French
ANT 261 - Agriculture, Religion, and Empire: Old World Prehistory 4 credits
An archaeological perspective on major themes and trends in the development of Old World civilizations: agricultural origins, trade and migration, metal and other technological innovations, role of ideology and symbol systems in social change, religion as a power base, rise of elite leadership, and state-level society. Covers much of Old World with emphasis on particular areas.
Prerequisite: ANT 104 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Whittaker
ANT 262 - Archaeology of North America 4 credits
Archaeological record from human entry into the area to European domination: hunting, gathering, and agricultural developments. Geographical and physical anthropological backgrounds presented.
Prerequisite: ANT 104 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Whittaker
ANT 265 - Ethnography of Communication: Method and Theory 4 credits
This course explores human communication from an ethnographic perspective. It does so from a “discourse-centered” approach that conceptualizes language as meaningful social action situated in particular contexts used strategically by social actors. Building upon this framework, we will engage the ethnography of communication as both a particular theoretical orientation and a specific methodological approach to language use. Areas of emphasis include: relationships between linguistic forms and social functions, ethnography of speaking, communicative competence, multiple layering of context, performer/audience relationships, intentionality, and ideology.
Prerequisite: ANT 104 or LIN 114 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: French
ANT 267 - Aztecs, Incas, and Mayas 4 credits
An examination of Aztec, Inca, and Maya cultures, including economics, politics, and religion. Concentrates on the dynamics of early states and explores reasons for their rise and fall.
Prerequisite: ANT 104 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Kamp
ANT 280 - Theories of Culture 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
A survey of the history of anthropological theory from the Enlightenment to the present.
Prerequisite: ANT 104 and at least one 200-level anthropology course.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Andelson, French
ANT 285 - Anthropology, Violence, and Human Rights 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This course is designed to address anthropological engagement with enduring forms of violence and efforts to intervene in them in a variety of cross-cultural contexts. The class begins by considering relationships among scholarly knowledge, history, and inequality to establish a foundation for thinking about research in post-Enlightenment sociopolitical contexts. It moves to examine tensions between cultural relativism and universal rights advocacy within Western intellectual thought. Next, it examines the concept of “legitimate” violence relative to state formation and power.
Prerequisite: ANT 104 and one 200-level Anthropology, Political Science, or Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies course.
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: French
ANT 290 - Archaeological Field Methods 4 credits (Spring)
Archaeological survey, excavation, and artifact analysis as tools for reconstructing the lifestyles of extinct societies. Lab work includes lithic, faunal, and ceramic analysis. Field labs provide practice in finding, mapping, recording, and interpreting archaeological sites.
Prerequisite: ANT 104 , or upper-level (200 or 300) archaeology course.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Whittaker
ANT 291 - Methods of Empirical Investigation 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
See .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
ANT 292 - Ethnographic Research Methods 4 credits (Fall)
Cross-listed as: SOC 292 . The processes by which ethnographers construct an understanding of human behavior; what questions they ask and how they answer them. Students engage in ethnographic field studies.
Prerequisite: ANT 104 or SOC 111 and one 200-level course in Cultural Anthropology or Linguistic Anthropology.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Tapias
ANT 293 - Practicing Anthropology 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This course will train students in anthropological methods and explore the roles of anthropological research outside of academia, particularly that associated with local-level policy and community needs. Students will learn how anthropologists design, carry out, and present ethical research. Much of the learning will be done through experiential education, as students plan and undertake needs assessments, program evaluations, or some other research in coordination with and on behalf of a Grinnell community organization.
Prerequisite: ANT 104 or one 200-level anthropology course.
Note: Not offered every year
Instructor: Roper
ANT 295-01 - Special Topci: Lenses on Antisemitism/Anti-Semitism 4 credits (Spring)
This course examines themes informing anti-Jewish attitudes channeled into a “new anti-Semitism” focused exclusively on Jewish nationality and nationalism, terms to be explored during this semester. Cumulatively, the readings provide a loose overview of theological, racial, social and political anti-Semitism. Political anti-Semitism offers up important corollary questions concerning the relationship(s) between identities, power and knowledge, the consequences of globalization on stereotypes and (mis)representation of people/places, and importantly, the role and political consequences of academic activism.
Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
Instructor: Gibel Mevorach
ANT 295-01 - Special Topic: Nature and Culture on the American Prairie 4 credits (Fall)
Grinnell lies at the center of North America’s tallgrass prairie, a region steeped in history yet constantly changing. We will examine the major transformations in the prairie region: migration of prairie into the area 8000 years ago, indigenous people’s adaptations, nineteenth century culture clashes, destruction of the prairie for agriculture, rise of industrial agriculture and globalization, changing demographics, late twentieth century movements to reclaim environmental and community vitality, and artistic commentaries on the above. Field trips.
Prerequisite: ANT 104 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Andelson
ANT 295-02 - Special Topic: The Anthropology of Disaster 4 credits (Fall)
Disasters have become increasingly common throughout the world. The chances that we will be affected, directly or indirectly, by a major disaster increases daily. Using ethnographic case studies of recent disasters in the United States, Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and Europe, students will critically examine the ways in which natural, sociocultural and technological systems interact to produce catastrophe.
Prerequisite: ANT 104 .
Instructor: Kulstad
ANT 305 - The Cultural Politics of Fashion 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Cross-listed as: AMS 305 . Everyone gets dressed: the creation of desire and cultivation of a consumer culture transcends geographic boundaries (from Dubai to Delhi, Paris to Tehran and NY to Tokyo). Fashion is personal, public and profitable: considering fashion and taste as a dialectic shaped by local and global networks, our point of departure is on interaction and fusion between companies and consumers, brands and boutiques, luxury malls and museums, and fashioning identities in print and moving images.
Prerequisite: A 200-level course in Humanities or Social Studies Division.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Gibel Mevorach
ANT 310 - Postmodernism and Beyond 4 credits
This course explores the meanings of postmodernism, including the historical moment in which the concept emerged to describe a crisis in the social sciences. We will read anthropologists’ comments on the impact of postmodernist approaches on methodologies and theories in the discipline and examine texts that interrogate the relationship between power and knowledge, representations and ethnographic authority, the question of subjectivity and objectification, and the consequences of globalization on dominant concepts that ground the discipline of anthropology. This course includes ethnographic films and commercial movies that register the condition of postmodernity.
Prerequisite: ANT 104 and ANT 280 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Gibel Mevorach
ANT 321 - Human Ethology 4 credits
In this course we will explore: 1) the evolutionary bases for human behavior; 2) how to observe, record, and study human behavior; and 3) the benefits and shortcomings of an ethological approach through both readings and hands-on projects. Each student will design and conduct a short ethological study of human behavior. This course will be research-centered.
Prerequisite: ANT 280 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Bentley-Condit
ANT 325 - Biological Basis of Human Society 4 credits
An assessment of biological factors in human social behavior through an examination of the social behavior of nonhuman primates and evidence from human ethnology and sociobiology. Topics include reproductive behavior, aggression, dominance, sex roles, and altruism.
Prerequisite: ANT 280 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Bentley-Condit
ANT 326 - Anthropology of Religion 4 credits
Cross-listed as: REL 326 . The role and nature of religion. Origin of religious beliefs and customs. Structure and function of religious systems: beliefs, practitioners, supernatural power, totemism, and ritual change.
Prerequisite: ANT 280 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Andelson
ANT 355 - Collective Memory in Anthropological Perspective 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This course addresses collective memory from theoretical and ethnographic perspectives. It locates memory in the social world, in the relevance of the past for the present, and in on-going struggles to represent and commemorate meaningful histories. It begins by addressing foundational theories and builds to consider: relationships between nationalism and memory, possibilities of representing violence, contestations and embodies performances of public memories. Particular attention is paid to language and semiotic systems in memory work.
Prerequisite: ANT 265 , ANT 280 , or ANT 285
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: French
ANT 365 - Fighting Words: Conflict, Discourse, and Power 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This course is a seminar in linguistic anthropology. It focuses on conflict and power embedded in social uses of language and analyzes them in a variety of contexts. It highlights both interactional and institutional aspects of discourse and the ways in which they are implicated in reproduction of social relationships.
Prerequisite: ANT 260 , ANT 265 , or ANT 280 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: French
ANT 375 - Experimental Archaeology and Ethnoarchaeology 4 credits
Experiments with artifacts and observations of living peoples provide archaeologists with the basis for interpreting the remains of past cultures. This course examines the theoretical basis and practice of experimental archaeology and ethnoarchaeology. Course includes lab work and projects.
Prerequisite: ANT 280 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Kamp, Whittaker
ANT 377 - War, Religion, and Politics in the Puebloan Southwest 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Major issues in anthropological theory in the context of the American Southwest, from the viewpoints of archaeology informed by cultural anthropology and history.
Prerequisite: ANT 280 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Whittaker
ANT 395-01 - Advanced Special Topic: Global Ethography and Transnationalism 4 credits (Spring)
Ethnography has historically consisted of in-depth descriptions and examinations of micro-level interactions occurring in very specific localities, hence anthropologist would travel to “the field” to do their work. Many anthropologists have increasingly decoupled the notations of ethnography and locality and have become interested in examining cultural formations that transcend national borders, the formation of new identities and grappled with new forms of representation that these entail. This course examines how anthropologists do global ethnography and how they explore the emergence of transnational identities where attachments, sense of belonging and allegiances are reconfigured and challenged.
Prerequisite: ANT 104 and ANT 280 .
Instructor: Escandell
ANT 399 - Directed Research 4 credits
See Directed Research.
Instructor: StaffArt
ARH 103 - Introduction to Art History 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
A thematic and cross-cultural study of art and architecture as expressions of diverse social, intellectual, religious, and aesthetic values, primarily in Western societies since antiquity, with reference to certain East Asian and African traditions. Emphasis on developing critical skills. Use of Grinnell College Art Collection.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Staff
ARH 210 - Women, Art, and History 4 credits
An introduction to the history of women’s involvement in the visual arts. Concerned with ways of analyzing changing relationships among gender, culture, and creativity. The focus is on a historical study of women as producers of art, with emphasis on the various ways women have responded to social conditions determining the production of art, and on defining the issues and methods of investigations, based on feminist critiques of conventional art historical approaches.
Prerequisite: ARH 103 or GWS 111 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Staff
ARH 214 - Monastery and Cathedral in Medieval Europe 4 credits
Study of major developments in architecture and art from the Carolingian through Gothic periods (9th–14th centuries). Primary focus on architectural design and structure (as at Durham, Canterbury, Lincoln, Cluny, Paris, Chartres, Amiens), including the roles of sculpture and manuscript painting within their social, political, religious, and intellectual climates. Option of executing projects in architectural design or doing reading in French, German, Italian, Latin, or Spanish.
Prerequisite: ARH 103 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Staff
ARH 221 - European Art 1789-1848: Figures & Ground 4 credits
Examination of 19th-century Romantic and Realist painting as critical responses to the period’s dramatic political, industrial, and cultural transformations and as the foundation of artistic “modernity.” Emphasis on issues of high and mass culture; art and political voice; representations of non-Europeans; relevance of the canon; tensions between the urban and natural worlds; and creation of the Avant-Garde. The French Revolution of 1789 marked the entrance on the world stage of a new concept of the modern, self-determining subject. During the first half of the nineteenth century, artists in France, England, Spain and Germany sought to discover an artistic language that would represent this new individual’s relationship to the natural and the built environment, a dialogue of figure and ground that this course studies in the mediums of painting, sculpture, printmaking, and photography.
Prerequisite: ARH 103 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Staff
ARH 222 - Impressionism and Post-Impressionism 4 credits
A study of major artists, works, and issues in European Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painting (ca. 1865–1900). Specific movements include Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Symbolism, and Art Nouveau.
Prerequisite: ARH 103 .
Note: Not offered every year.
+2 option available.
Foreign language option available in French or German for course and +2.
Instructor: Anger
ARH 225 - The Baroque Imaginary 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
The Baroque has fascinated - and incensed - artists, historians, cultural critics, and philosophers from Heinrich Wölfflin, Walter Benjamin, and Erwin Panofsky to Gilles Deleuze, Hubert Damisch, and Peter Greenaway. Often aligned with an artistic “Golden Age” exemplified by the works of Bernini, Rubens, Velázquez, and Vermeer, the Baroque is also associated with decadence, irrationality, and effeminacy. We will explore the stakes of these connotations for seventeenth-century Baroque icons as well as for later, (Neo)Baroque artists.
Prerequisite: ARH 103 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Staff
ARH 226 - Gender, Race and Fashion in Western Portraiture, 1500-1950 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Explores race, gender, and fashionable dress as co-constitutive forces in portraiture from 1500 to 1950. We will investigate self-portraiture, group portraiture, historiated portraiture, and allegorical personification. If idealized white, female beauty is one of portraiture’s longstanding fetishes, how do notions of sexual difference, physiognomy, and skin-color, among other variables, inflect representation? Subjects range from Tudor England, Rubens, Van Dyck, Rembrandt, and Velázquez to Qing China, Viceregal Mexico, nineteenth-century Paris, and post-war New York.
Prerequisite: ARH 103 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Staff
ARH 231 - Modern Art in Europe, 1900–1940 4 credits (Fall)
An examination of major movements in European art from 1900–1940, including Fauvism, Expressionism, Cubism, Futurism, Dada, Surrealism, Constructivism, and Socialist Realism. Focus upon the historical contexts of art production and reception. Readings range from contemporary criticism to historical analysis. Investigation of recurrent problems such as primitivism, gender, authorship, and cultural politics.
Prerequisite: ARH 103 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Foreign language option available in French or German for course and +2.
Instructor: Anger
ARH 232 - Art Since 1945 4 credits (Spring)
An examination of developments primarily in American and European art since 1945, from Abstract Expressionism to current trends such as the globalized art market. Particular attention to art since 1960: Pop, Happenings, Black Art, Minimalism, Conceptualism, Earth Works, Feminist Art, Video, and Installation. Readings range from contemporary criticism to historical analysis from a variety of perspectives (e.g., formal, multicultural, deconstructive).
Prerequisite: ARH 103 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Foreign language option available in French or German for course and +2.
Instructor: Anger
ARH 233 - American Art 4 credits
A survey of American art within its cultural, philosophical, and social contexts. Topics include: colonial portraiture; history painting, landscape, and vernacular expressions in the 19th century; and the sources and development of modernism and postmodernism.
Prerequisite: ARH 103 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Anger
ARH 248 - Greek Archaeology and Art 4 credits (Spring)
See CLS 248 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
ARH 250 - Roman Archaeology and Art 4 credits (Spring)
See CLS 250 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
ARH 260 - Museum Studies: The Art Museum 4 credits
An examination of the history of museums, museum operations, funding, ethics, and the philosophical and intellectual issues raised by the contemporary museum. The course will focus on art museums, but many of the topics will pertain to history, ethnographic, science, and other types of museums.
Prerequisite: ARH 103 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Wright
ARH 295-01 - Special Topic: Arts and Visual Cultures of China 4 credits (Fall)
This course explores the arts and visual cultures of China from the Neolithic period through the nineteenth century. We will consider diverse media including painting, prints, textiles, ceramics, metalwork, jade, and architecture, as well as works in the College Art Collection. A central theme will be the role that various (non-Han Chinese) ethnic groups played in shaping the arts of the Chinese court, with special emphasis on cultural exchange with Central Asia and the Steppe.
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Not open to first-years
Instructor: Shea
ARH 295-01 - Special Topic: The Global Mongol Century: In the Footsteps of Marco Polo 4 credits (Spring)
Cross-listed as: EAS 295-01 . In this class, we will explore the arts and visual cultures of Mongol-controlled lands in Eurasia ca. 1250-1400. Loosely following Marco Polo’s travels, we will ”travel” from Italy to China, recreating the visual landscape of particular urban centers. Using primary documents and visual material, including illuminated manuscripts, textiles, paintings, ceramics, and metalwork, we will come to a clearer understanding of the interwoven networks in Eurasia during this period.
Prerequisite: ARH 103 .
Instructor: Shea
ARH 295-02 - Special Topic: Gender & Sexuality East Asian Art 4.00 credits (Spring)
Cross-listed as: EAS 295-02 . This class explores themes of gender and sexuality in the arts of China, Japan, and the East Asian Steppe, from the beginning of the Common Era to the present day. We will be looking at a variety of media, including paintings, prints, photographs, and ceramics, as well as the diverse cultural contexts in which this art was produced and consumed.
Prerequisite: ARH 103 .
Instructor: Shea
ARH 295-02 - Special Topic: Modern Architecture and Globalization 4 credits (Fall)
This course offers a survey of developments in modern architecture from the nineteenth century to the contemporary period, with a focus on globalization. In the course, we will discuss the aesthetic, political, and social contexts of architecture, including colonialism, urbanization, industrialization, semiotics, and consumerism. Reading texts by architects, critics, and scholars, students will examine local, regional, and national examples of modern architecture in conjunction with prominent global trends in the field.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Rivera
ARH 295-03 - Special Topic: Art, Media & the Built Environment in Cuba 4 credits (Spring)
In his famous 1961 speech to artists, writers, and intellectuals, Fidel Castro proclaimed: “Within the Revolution, everything…” Castro was indicating not only the terms of censorship for the new socialist government, but the ideological means of cultural production that would come to dominate the island nation in the following decades. This class analyzes art, media, and the built environment as they relate to concepts of revolution, utopia, and cubanidad, or “Cubanness.” Looking at material ranging from works by Cuba’s artistic vanguardia of the 1920s to contemporary debates regarding internet access and new media, we explore how the visual can be both symbolic of state interests and illustrative of subversions to the state.
Prerequisite: ARH 103 .
Note: This course includes required travel to Cuba over spring break. Students will be required to pay a $400 participation fee (most other required travel expenses will be covered). This fee will be added to the student tuition bill and is due by the first day of classes. If payment of this fee causes you financial concern, please contact Gretchen Zimmermann in the Financial Aid Office to discuss loan options to cover this additional cost for attendance.
Instructor: Rivera
ARH 295-04 - Special Topic: Riverscaping: American Art and Ecology 4 credits (Spring)
This course will look at 19th to 21st century American art by examining the human domination of geographical territories and natural resources. We will use academic perspectives including science, literature, music, and film to address how race, class, and sexuality are bound within a framework of ecology in American art. Although largely based on reading and discussion, this class will also include field trips and guest presentations.
Prerequisite: ARH 103 .
Instructor: Sivert
ARH 360 - Exhibition Seminar 4 credits (Fall)
An exploration of the materials and methods of primary art historical research and museum practice through the organization and presentation of an exhibition. Students work directly with art objects, using works in the Grinnell College Art Collection and/or borrowed from lenders. Topic and instructor vary; see current Schedule of Courses. Course may be repeated once for credit.
Prerequisite: One 200-level art history course.
Note: Not offered every year.
Fall 2017 only - This class includes course-embedded travel to Miami to visit Edouard Duval-Carríe’s studio for a weekend early in the semester, as well as travel during fall break to Davenport, Dubuque and Waterloo, Iowa to consult museum collections. Participation is required. Students will be required to pay a $250 participation fee (most other required travel expenses will be covered). This fee will be added to the student tuition bill and is due by the first day of classes. If payment of this fee causes you financial concern, please contact Gretchen Zimmermann in the Financial Aid Office to discuss options to cover this additional cost for attendance.
Instructor: Staff
ARH 400 - Seminar in Art History 4 credits (Spring)
An intensive study of selected problems with emphasis on research, methodology, and critical evaluation of a special area. May be repeated for a maximum of 8 credits if different topics are taken each time. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing in art history major.
Instructor: Staff
ARH 499 - Mentored Advanced Project — Art History 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
The preparation, writing, and public presentation of a piece of advanced art-historical research in any area of art history. Students must obtain approval of a department member as faculty director. The MAP application must be completed with the required project statement and with all faculty signatures before submission to the Office of the Registrar. All applications are subject to the approval of the associate dean of the College.
Prerequisite: Senior standing.
Instructor: Staff
ART 111 - Introduction to the Studio 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
Introduction to the Studio is a beginning level studio course designed to introduce and ground students in core principles of art making in a rigorous, hands-on studio. These principles will be taught though a series of practical exercises using traditional and digital tools. Emphasis will be placed on developing skills, knowledge of materials, methods of observation and translation, collaboration, discussion, and creative discipline.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Staff
ART 134 - Drawing 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
An introduction to observational drawing and contemporary drawing practice. Subjects will include architecture, objects, landscape, and the figure. Traditional and non-traditional media will be explored. Emphasis on technical skill, perceptual development, and critical skills.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Staff
ART 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: Art/Biology Investigations through Drawing
See BIO 195-01 .
ART 236 - Print Media 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This course involves an exploration of print processes. Emphasis is placed on the development of individual skills and an aesthetic appreciation of prints through creation, production, and study. This investigation includes historical and contemporary roles of multiples within the context of select media and broader artistic practices.
Prerequisite: ART 111 .
Instructor: Kluber
ART 237 - Chemistry of Artists’ Materials 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Cross-listed as: SCI 237 . This team-taught course will examine the physical properties of various artists’ materials and will use these materials to generate new creative work. Examples of materials to be investigated may include, but not be limited to: paper, plaster, paint binders, pigments and dyes. The class will be a combination of in-class discussion, laboratory, and studio practice; it will be a rare opportunity for students to learn from two inquiry-based disciplines in two different locations on campus.
Prerequisite: ART 111 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Running, Trimmer
ART 238 - Painting 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This course is an introduction to the materials, techniques, and practice of painting. Such a practice is concerned with issues, both technical and intellectual, that will give students the knowledge to transpose, construct, and execute using the medium of paint.
Prerequisite: ART 111 .
Instructor: Kaufman
ART 240 - Ceramics 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
An introduction to clay as a medium for visual expression with an emphasis on hand building, throwing, conceptual problem-solving, glazing, and firing. Students will construct both sculptural and functional forms, with particular attention paid to the development of technical skills, surface enrichment through texture, and creativity in the construction of three-dimensional forms.
Prerequisite: ART 111 .
Instructor: Schrift
ART 242 - Sculpture 4 credits (Spring)
This course will explore techniques and concepts employed by contemporary sculptors. Students will utilize materials from the ephemeral to the permanent to explore issues of space and construction through a series of creative projects.
Prerequisite: ART 111 .
Instructor: Running
ART 246 - Digital Media 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This course explores contemporary digital media art practice. Students will work with a variety of software, hardware, and digital tools in addressing visual ideas. This course encourages students to employ the computer as a visual-thinking tool.
Prerequisite: ART 111 .
Instructor: Staff
ART 295-01 - Special Topic: Print Matters: History, Theory, Praxis 4 credits (Spring)
See GRM 295-01 .
Instructor: Byrd, Chen
ART 295-01 - Special Topic: Visualizing Freedom and Abolition in the New World - A Mixed Media Installation. 2 credits (Fall)
This course will explore ideas and images of freedom and abolition from the Caribbean to the Midwestern frontier, resulting in a permanent installation for the new HSSC building. Students will research images regarding the trans-Atlantic slave trade, plantation economies and the abolitionist movement, and will collaborate with artist Edouard Duval-Carrie in a mixed media artwork made from epoxy resin in molds. Each “block” will use images to tell a different history regarding freedom and abolition.
Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
Note: Dates September 18 to September 27 and October 23 to November 1. Short course deadlines apply.
Instructor: Duvall
ART 295-02 - Special Topic: Just for You: Between Art and Performance 2 credits (Spring)
See THD 295-02 .
ART 295-02 - Special topic: Sculpture: Multiples 4 credits (Fall)
In this course students will explore replication of form in sculpture. Using rigid and flexible moulds as well as direct casting we will work with a variety of materials including plaster, concrete, wax, paper, ceramic, fabric, latex, and rubber. Students will work with traditional and innovative practices to develop original creative work.
Prerequisite: ART 111 .
Instructor: Running
ART 310 - Advanced Studio: Hybrid Media 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This advanced studio course involves investigating and expanding a visual idea across a range of media. Students have an opportunity to work in an interdisciplinary, expansive approach to art making.
Prerequisite: 12 credits of 200-level studio art.
Instructor: Kluber
ART 315 - Advanced Studio: Contemporary Practices 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
An interdisciplinary studio course designed to introduce students to contemporary artistic practices and concepts. Emphasis is placed on ideation, concept, and form integration.
Prerequisite: 12 credits of 200-level studio art.
Instructor: Kaufman
ART 320 - Advanced Studio: Site Specific 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
An intensive practice based course in which the problem of place and location is examined in relation to the development of a student’s individual body of work.
Prerequisite: 12 credits of 200-level studio art.
Instructor: Running
ART 499 - Mentored Advanced Project — Studio 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Senior Project: A concentrated focus within a specific medium in which the student has extensive experience. This course is aimed at establishing a personal direction in content and personal expression while developing a mature portfolio in preparation for an advanced degree. The project includes preparation, creation, and public presentation of a body of artwork. Seniors must obtain approval of a department member for the desired medium as supervisor of the project. The MAP application must be completed with the required project statement and with all faculty signatures before submission to the Office of the Registrar. All applications are subject to approval of the dean of the College.
Prerequisite: 300-level studio course, senior standing, and departmental approval of official MAP proposal before the end of the preceding semester.
See additional information on MAP’s.
Instructor: Staff Biological Chemistry
BCM 262 - Introduction to Biological Chemistry 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
An introduction to chemical properties and biological functions of proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates, and lipids. Topics in lecture and lab include purifying and characterizing proteins, enzyme kinetics, and basic energy metabolism. Three lectures and one scheduled lab each week.
Prerequisite: BIO 251 , CHM 221 , and completion of or concurrent registration in CHM 222 .
Instructor: Levandoski, TrimmerBiology
BIO 150 - Introduction to Biological Inquiry 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
An introduction to how biologists pose questions, design experiments, analyze data, and communicate scientific information, for prospective biology and biological chemistry majors as well as nonmajors. Although individual sections will have different topics and formats, all sections will involve intensive student-directed investigation and include a laboratory component. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Staff
BIO 150-01 - Introduction to Biological Inquiry 4 credits (Fall)
Prairie Restoration. As a way to explore how biologists ask questions and develop answers to them, this class will focus on the biological problems involved in the restoration of tallgrass prairies. It will be taught in “workshop” format at Grinnell College’s Conard Environmental Research Area (CERA), where we will use the college’s prairie and savanna restorations as our laboratory. Students will be required to formulate research questions based on readings of the scientific literature, design experimental or observational studies to test these hypotheses, and communicate the results of these studies after the conventions of professional biologists. Papers resulting from a substantial independent project will be published in the class journal, Tillers.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Brown
BIO 150-01 - Introduction to Biological Inquiry 4 credits (Spring)
“Sexy Beast” Why do animals have sex? and in such incredible variety? This course will consider the ways biologists study the causes and consequences of sex in animals at all levels – from the cellular process of meiosis, to the organismal concept of gender, to mating interactions between individuals and their evolutionary consequences. Students will learn to read and evaluate the primary literature, formulate hypotheses, and carry out independent research projects using a model organism, the bean beetle Callosobruchus maculatus. Students will communicate their results in scientific papers, posters, and oral presentations. Finally, as sexy beasts ourselves, we will consider how our human biases and social assumptions influence the questions asked and their accepted answers.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Villarreal
BIO 150-02 - Introduction to Biological Inquiry 4 credits (Spring)
Symmetry Breaking: Cells are not disorderly bags of molecules. On the contrary, all cells carefully distribute their contents asymmetrically in order to make certain parts of themselves distinct from other parts. Symmetry breaking is particularly evident during embryonic development when an embryo morphs from a sphere of cells into something with multiple axes (e.g. front-back). How do cells do this? Why do they spend so much energy breaking symmetry? It turns out that symmetry breaking is essential for many biological processes. In this course students will learn to use frog oocytes, eggs, and/or embryos in order to observe and explore symmetry breaking processes in living cells. Moreover, students will perform novel research related to this topic, which will involve developing a specific hypothesis, designing and performing experiments, and analyzing and sharing results.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Sandquist
BIO 150-03 - Introduction to Biological Inquiry 4 credits (Fall)
The Language of Neurons. In this course students will actively learn how biologists study the nervous system. Specifically, students will work as neuroscientists for a semester and will attempt to learn something novel about how nerve cells communicate with one another at chemical synapses. Students will present their findings at the end of the semester via both oral and written presentations. Papers resulting from a substantial independent project will be published in the class journal, Pioneering Neuroscience: The Grinnell Journal of Neurophysiology. Students with a strong background in high school physics will benefit most from this section of Biological Inquiry.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Rempel-Clower
BIO 150-03 - Introduction to Biological Inquiry 4 credits (Spring)
Genes and Toxins. The ways in which an organism responds to different drugs or toxins can be heavily influenced by its genetics. In other words, genotypes determine phenotypes. In this course, we will conduct research exploring the interplay between genes and chemicals using the model organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae (baker’s yeast) . We will investigate how well different yeast mutants are able to survive exposure to a variety of chemicals . In the course of designing our experiments and analyzing our results, we will discuss the molecular biology behind the relationship between genes and drugs. We will also explore how the knowledge about genetic and chemical interaction can be exploited to understand human diseases and to design therapeutic strategies
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Thu
BIO 150-04 - Introduction to Biological Inquiry 4 credits (Fall)
The Effects of Climate Change on Organisms. We will examine the effects of predicted changes in temperature, moisture and carbon dioxide levels on organismal and ecosystem function through experimental investigation. We will focus on the effects of such changes on the physiology and metabolic functioning of organisms, as well as on biogeochemical processes of ecosystems. This course will be taught in a workshop format, meeting twice a week for three hours. Class time will be devoted primarily to discussions and lab work, examining theoretical aspects of organismal and ecosystem functioning, design and implementation of lab-based experiments, and the interpretation of our results in the context of extensive ongoing climate change research.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: K. Jacobson
BIO 150-04 - Introduction to Biological Inquiry 4 credits (Spring)
Genes and Toxins. The ways in which an organism responds to different drugs or toxins can be heavily influenced by its genetics. In other words, genotypes determine phenotypes. In this course, we will conduct research exploring the interplay between genes and chemicals using the model organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae (baker’s yeast) . We will investigate how well different yeast mutants are able to survive exposure to a variety of chemicals . In the course of designing our experiments and analyzing our results, we will discuss the molecular biology behind the relationship between genes and drugs. We will also explore how the knowledge on genetic and chemical interaction can be exploited to understand human diseases and to design therapeutic strategies.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Bailey
BIO 150-05 - Introduction to Biological Inquiry 4 credits (Fall)
Animal Locomotion. As a way to explore how biologists ask questions and develop answers to them, this class will focus on the biomechanics and physiology of animal locomotion. We will begin at the level of the muscle, and go on to consider how the heart and lungs function during exercise in vertebrates. We will also consider the effects of exercise on mood, stress, and anxiety, and analyze the kinematics of locomotion using digital video. Students will begin learning how to use the scientific literature to study the physical, physiological, and biomechanical principles that cause or result from the ways animals move. The emphasis of the course will be on asking questions, designing experiments to answer those questions, and communicating results of the experiments in a variety of formats. Each class period will combine lab, lecture, and discussion.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Queathem
BIO 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: Art/Biology Investigations through Drawing 1 credits (Spring)
Cross-listed as: ART 195-01 . This course will provide a general understanding of the philosophical links between art and biology. Through the combination of artistic and scientific methodologies the group will explore the shared forms and symmetries of organisms as well as aspects of their development. Experimental drawing methods will be practiced in biological collections, the laboratory, and the field.
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Dates: April 2 to April 20. Short course deadlines apply. S/D/F only.
Instructor: Anderson
BIO 195-02 - Introductory Special Topic: Global Health: Costa Rica, Cuba, Denmark, and the United States
See SOC 195-01 .
BIO 220 - Racing Through Genetics 4 credits (Spring)
Cross-listed as: AMS 220 and ANT 220 . An interdisciplinary study of the role that science has played in the construction of race and ways that society uses such racial classifications. Historic cases including eugenics movement in the early 1990s and application of modern genetic technology will be explored. Students will consider genetic determinism in light of what is known about biology and historicize concepts based in science including the meanings they acquired when invoked to support judicial, political and social politics.
Prerequisite: BIO 150 and one upper level AMS, ANT, SOC, or GWSS course. (In the event of over enrollment, priority will be given to students who have completed BIO 251 )
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Gibel Mevorach, Gregg-Jolly
BIO 240 - Animal Behavior 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Investigations of the causes, functions, and origins of animal behavior. We will use an evolutionary perspective to understand and integrate common behavioral adaptations, e.g., obtaining food, avoiding predators, living in groups, communicating, mating, and caring for offspring. Laboratory projects emphasize design, analysis, and communication of quantitative tests of hypotheses carried out in the lab and field. Three lectures and one scheduled lab per week.
Prerequisite: BIO 150 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Brown
BIO 251 - Molecules, Cells, and Organisms 4 credits (Fall)
Investigations of the cellular and molecular basis of organismal structure and function, including studies of how organisms acquire and expend energy, acquire and transport materials, regulate internal conditions, transmit information, reproduce, develop, grow, and move. Three lectures and one scheduled lab each week.
Prerequisite: BIO 150 , CHM 129 , and completion of or concurrent registration in CHM 221 .
Note: Students who have completed the Biology 251/252 course sequence receive the equivalent of a standard undergraduate introductory genetics course, relevant for pre-professional programs and graduate schools.
Instructor: Staff
BIO 252 - Organisms, Evolution, and Ecology 4 credits (Spring)
Investigations of the evolutionary causes and ecological consequences of organismal structure and function, including studies of why organisms acquire and expend energy, acquire and transport materials, regulate internal conditions, transmit information, reproduce, develop, grow, and move. Three lectures and one scheduled lab each week.
Prerequisite: BIO 251 and MAT 124 or MAT 131 .
Note: Students who have completed the Biology 251/252 course sequence receive the equivalent of a standard undergraduate introductory genetics course, relevant for pre-professional programs and graduate schools.
Instructor: Staff
BIO 301 - History of Biological Thought 4 credits (Spring)
This seminar course will consider how biological theories emerge and change in a complex environment of empirical knowledge and social/political concerns. Areas of study may include reproductive biology, evolution, genetics, ecology and conservation, and medicine. Three lecture/discussion sections each week.
Prerequisite: BIO 252 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Brown
BIO 305 - Evolution of the Iowa Flora 4 credits (Fall)
Investigations of the history of Iowa’s plant diversity from three perspectives: 1) taxonomy and systematics; 2) paleoecology and community assembly; and 3) population structure, biogeography, and conservation. Three lectures and one laboratory each week.
Prerequisite: BIO 252 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Eckhart
BIO 325 - Fungal Biology 4 credits (Fall)
An integrative survey of the fungal kingdom, emphasizing current topics in developmental biology, physiology, genetics, evolution, systematics, ecology, and human interactions with fungi. Emphasis is on interactive learning through field and laboratory investigations. Combined lecture/lab periods meet two times each week for three hours.
Prerequisite: BIO 252 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: K. Jacobson
BIO 334 - Plant Physiology 4 credits
An assessment of the physiological, biochemical, and molecular mechanisms underlying the life processes of plants. This course will examine major plant functions with emphasis on the physiology and biochemistry of photosynthesis, respiration, nutrient metabolism, translocation, control of growth, and response of plants to environmental stress.
Prerequisite: BIO 252 or BCM 262 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: DeRidder
BIO 339 - Biogeochemistry 4 credits (Spring)
Study of the effects of life on the Earth’s chemistry. This course will examine the interactions among biological and chemical processes that determine the cycling of biologically significant elements in soils, sediments, waters, and the atmosphere. Lectures and discussions focus on current topics, with particular emphasis on the effects of human activity on biogeochemical cycles. Field and laboratory investigations emphasize quantitative analysis and experimental design. Three lecture/discussions and one laboratory per week.
Prerequisite: BIO 252 , or BCM 262 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: P. Jacobson
BIO 340 - Aquatic Biology 4 credits (Spring)
An examination of the biology of freshwater systems, including lakes, rivers, and streams, and the linkages between aquatic and terrestrial environments. Lectures and discussions focus on current topics in freshwater biology. Laboratory and field investigations emphasize quantitative analysis and experimental design and include an independent project. One laboratory meeting and two lecture/discussion sessions each week.
Prerequisite: BIO 252 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: P. Jacobson
BIO 343 - Comparative Vertebrate Morphology 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This class will analyze the structure and evolution of the vertebrates, emphasizing functional morphology. We will consider vertebrate evolution and diversity, integument, biomaterials, and skulls; vertebral columns, lateral flexion, and the transition to terrestrial locomotion; circulatory systems; osmoregulatory structures; gas exchange; and sensory structures. In the lab, we will dissect animals such as sharks and cats and analyze other materials. We will close by focusing on morphological design and locomotion, and students will write a research proposal.
Prerequisite: BIO 252 , or BCM 262 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Queathem
BIO 345 - Advanced Genetics 4 credits (Fall or spring)
Genetics is an experimental approach that has been applied to questions in all areas of biology, answering fundamental questions about inheritance, cell mechanics, human disease, and evolutionary change. This course will introduce students to advanced genetic principles and techniques. We will then explore how these techniques have been applied to answer fundamental questions in biology by reading both classic and recent papers from the primary literature that utilize genetic approaches. We will also discuss some of the limitations of genetics as a scientific approach. The laboratory will emphasize multiweek projects using genetic techniques to study biological problems. Two three-hour meetings per week.
Prerequisite: BIO 252 , or BCM 262 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Praitis
BIO 355 - Developmental Genetics 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
We explore how scientists identify and characterize the genes required for animal and plant development, by reading and discussing papers from the primary literature that utilize molecular and classic genetic techniques. Topics include axis determination, cell fate decisions, tissue formation, sex determination, environmental influences on development, and evolutionary conservation of developmental mechanisms. In the laboratory, students do independent research projects on the model system C. elegans. Two three-hour meetings per week.
Prerequisite: BIO 252 , or BCM 262 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Praitis
BIO 363 - Neurobiology 4 credits (Spring)
This course examines the structure, function, and development of the nervous system. Cellular and molecular mechanisms are emphasized and examples are drawn from throughout the animal kingdom. Three lectures and one scheduled laboratory each week.
Prerequisite: BIO 252 or BCM 262 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Lindgren
BIO 364 - Animal Physiology 4 credits (Spring)
This course examines the integrated function of tissues, organs, and organ systems from a molecular, cellular, and organismal perspective. Emphasis is placed on mechanisms underlying physiological processes found throughout the animal kingdom. Three lectures and one laboratory each week.
Prerequisite: BIO 252 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Lindgren
BIO 365 - Microbiology 4 credits (Fall)
This course examines the structure, physiology and genetics of microorganisms. Emphasis is placed on studying of the diversity of microbes and exploring how microbes shape the environments they inhabit. A significant component of this course will be the critical evaluation of primary literature, along with an emphasis on written and oral communication skills. In the laboratory, students conduct independent research projects involving culture-dependent and culture-independent techniques. Two lectures and one laboratory each week.
Prerequisite: BIO 252 or BCM 262 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Fall 2017 only - This class includes course-embedded travel during Fall Break to Montana State University and Yellowstone National Park to engage with scientists studying unique microbial communities. Participation is required. Students will be required to pay a $250 participation fee (most other required travel expenses will be covered). This fee will be added to the student tuition bill and is due by the first day of classes. If payment of this fee causes you financial concern, please contact Gretchen Zimmermann in the Financial Aid Office to discuss options to cover this additional cost for attendance.
Instructor: Hinsa-Leasure
BIO 368 - Ecology 4 credits (Fall)
Study of the distribution and abundance of organisms and of relationships between organisms and environments. Laboratories emphasize quantitative analysis and experimental design in ecology and include several field projects. Lectures focus on the development of ecological concepts and theory. Three lectures and one laboratory per week.
Prerequisite: BIO 252 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Eckhart
BIO 370 - Advanced Cell Biology 4 credits (Fall)
In its infancy, cell biology primarily concerned the description of major cellular structures and functions that were visible by the light microscope. However, modern cell biology, and consequently this course, has shifted focus to the examination of biological processes at the molecular level. Focusing on eukaryotic systems, we will begin with a brief overview of cells, the history of cell biology, and the general approaches used to study cells. The rest of the course will focus on three to four central aspects of cell biology including signal transduction, cell cycle and cytoskeleton. How these topics relate to pharmacology and cancer biology will also be discussed. Laboratories emphasize techniques used in the study of cell biology in frog oocytes, eggs and/or embryos.
Prerequisite: BIO 252 or BCM 262 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Sandquist
BIO 373 - Mechanisms of Evolution 4 credits (Spring)
This course examines the mechanisms of evolutionary change at both the micro- and macroevolutionary scales. Topics include the maintenance of genetic variation, population structure and speciation, molecular evolution, systematic methods and applications, and macroevolution. Three lectures and one laboratory session each week.
Prerequisite: BIO 252 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Brown
BIO 375 - Principles of Pharmacology 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
An examination of the fundamental principles by which pharmacological agents are produced, work, and used. A major part of the course will explore basic concepts of pharmacokinetics (absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion) and pharmacodynamics (mechanisms of drug action, receptor theory, dose response relationships, genetic interactions with drugs). Some common drug classes will be examined to illustrate basic physiological and pharmacological principles. Aspects of drug discovery, development and policy may also be introduced. Three lectures and one scheduled laboratory each week.
Prerequisite: BIO 252 or BCM 262 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Sandquist
BIO 380 - Molecular Biology 4 credits (Spring)
An examination of the molecular biology of the cell and associated technology. The application of techniques such as molecular cloning, PCR amplification, DNA sequencing and hybridization to contemporary issues in biology are emphasized in lecture and laboratory. Two lectures and one laboratory per week.
Prerequisite: BIO 252 , or BCM 262 .
Instructor: Staff
BIO 390 - Readings in Biology 2 credits (Fall or Spring)
In this variable content course, students will explore a selected area of biology via a seminar format that emphasizes reading, discussion, and writing about primary literature. May be repeated for credit if content changes. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: BIO 252 .
Instructor: Staff
BIO 390-01 - Readings in Biology 2 credits (Fall)
Cancer Biology. Cancer is a broad class of diseases with significant human health impacts. This course will explore a selection of the mechanisms by which genetic changes permit uncontrolled cell growth. We will examine how altered cell-cell interactions and physiology permit cancer cells to metastasize to multiple tissues. Additionally, we will discuss immunological defenses and modern treatment approaches that limit cancer cells’ growth and spread. This seminar-style course will emphasize reading and discussion of primary literature.
Prerequisite: BIO 252 .
Instructor: Thu
BIO 390-01 - Readings in Biology 2 credits (Spring)
Cellular division. Eukaryotic organisms exhibit two types of cellular division: mitosis and meiosis. Meiosis is a specialized form of division that occurs only in the sex cells and is essential for the formation of the gametes. Somatic cells, by contrast, duplicate via mitotic divisions. Cells have in place a variety of structures and regulatory systems that work to ensure faithful division. In this course, we will read a mix of classic and current research that has advanced our understanding of these dynamic and vital cellular events. In particular, we will focus on the cytoskeletal elements that provide the force necessary to drive both nuclear and cytoplasmic division, as well as the signaling pathways governing M phase entry and exit. We will also place cell division into a broader context by exploring the biological consequences of division gone awry.
Prerequisite: BIO 252 .
Instructor: Sandquist
BIO 395-01 - Advanced Special Topic: Methods in Forensic Entomology 2 credits (Fall)
Forensic entomology entails the utility of insects in litigation, including criminal investigations. By tracking colonization and succession of insects to a corpse, scientists can approximate the location and time of death of a body. Students will explore the identity and biology of insects that colonize a corpse throughout the various stages of decomposition. This methods-based course emphasizes application of biological concepts from cellular to ecological levels, and underscores the interaction of biology and society.
Prerequisite: BIO 252 .
Note: Meets August 24 to October 12. Half semester deadlines apply
Instructor: Villarreal
BIO 399 - Directed Research 2 or 4 credits
See Directed Research.
Instructor: StaffChemistry
CHM 100 - Chemistry is Everywhere 4 credits (Fall)
This course in intended for nonscience majors and introduces the basic principles of chemistry with special emphasis on everyday life and sustainability. The course illustrates these principles through extensive use of classroom demonstrations and hands on explorations.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Marzluff
CHM 129 - General Chemistry 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
An introductory course. Primary emphasis on stoichiometry, atomic and molecular structure, dynamic equilibrium, acid-base chemistry, thermodynamics, electronic structure, and intermolecular interactions. Three classes, one laboratory each week.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Staff
CHM 210 - Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
Leads to advanced work in the department. Principles of inorganic chemistry and elementary quantitative analysis, including ionic equilibrium, electrochemistry, and acid-base chemistry. Three classes, one laboratory each week.
Prerequisite: CHM 129 .
Instructor: Staff
CHM 221 - Organic Chemistry I 4 credits (Fall)
A comprehensive study of structures, reactions, syntheses, and spectroscopy of aliphatic and aromatic compounds, which emphasizes modern mechanistic models. Three classes, one laboratory each week.
Prerequisite: CHM 129 . (Students with AP/IB credit or other off-campus credit to substitute for CHM 129 must take CHM 210 .)
Instructor: Staff
CHM 222 - Organic Chemistry II 4 credits (Spring)
A comprehensive study of structures, reactions, syntheses, and spectroscopy of aliphatic and aromatic compounds, which emphasizes modern mechanistic models. Three classes, one laboratory each week.
Prerequisite: CHM 221 .
Instructor: Staff
CHM 240 - Environmental Chemistry 4 credits Spring
Cross-listed as: ENV 240 . An introduction to the chemistry of the atmosphere, natural waters, soils and sediments, emphasizing chemical pollution and pollution prevention. Topics include: atmospheric pollution, persistent organic pollutants, agrochemicals, heavy metal contamination, and emerging contaminants. Two classes, one laboratory each week.
Prerequisite: CHM 129 .
Instructor: Graham
CHM 325 - Advanced Organic Chemistry 4 credits (Fall)
Selected topics in organic chemistry, including spectral methods of identifying organic compounds, reaction mechanisms, and modern methods of organic synthesis. Laboratory emphasis on spectral, chromatographic, and synthetic methods. Three classes, one laboratory each week.
Prerequisite: CHM 222 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Staff
CHM 330 - Bioorganic Chemistry 4 credits (Fall)
Exploration of the advanced biochemistry discipline of bioorganic chemistry, which applies the principles and techniques of organic chemistry to the study of biochemical reactions. Emphasis on the reactions of enzymes, particularly enzymes that require a coenzyme (flavin, pyridoxal phosphate, etc.) to carry out their chemistry. Topics include enzyme structure, catalytic strategies, kinetics, and methodologies to determine enzyme mechanisms. Investigates laboratories stress spectroscopic and kinetic techniques. Three classes, one laboratory each week.
Prerequisite: BCM 262 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Trimmer
CHM 332 - Biophysical Chemistry 4 credits (Fall)
Exploration of advanced topics in biochemistry with an emphasis on physical methodologies (thermodynamics and kinetics) and techniques. Topics include ligand binding theory, protein folding, and structure determination, etc. Secondary emphasis involves topics in molecular neuroscience, such as second messenger systems and ion channels. Laboratory employs some of the techniques discussed and includes an independent project. Three classes, one laboratory each week. Completion of the introductory physics sequence and CHM 363 is recommended.
Prerequisite: BCM 262 and completion of or concurrent registration in PHY 131 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Levandoski
CHM 340 - Aquatic Geochemistry 4 credits (Spring)
Thermodynamics and kinetics of chemical processes controlling the biogeochemical cycling of major and trace elements in freshwater and marine systems. Special emphasis on quantitative modeling of processes occurring at the mineral-water interface (precipitation/dissolution, solute adsorption, oxidation-reduction). Two classes and one laboratory per week.
Prerequisite: CHM 221 and CHM 210 or CHM 363 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Graham
CHM 358 - Instrumental Analysis 4 credits (Fall)
Analytical chemistry, including both theory and applications of spectral, electrochemical, chromatographic, and other commonly employed methods of analysis and separation. Two classes, two laboratories each week.
Prerequisite: CHM 221 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Lyons, Sharpe
CHM 363 - Physical Chemistry I 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
An introduction to physical chemistry that emphasizes experimental and theoretical aspects of chemical thermodynamics, chemical and physical equilibrium, and kinetics. Three classes, one laboratory each week.
Prerequisite: CHM 222 , and MAT 133 or equivalent, and PHY 131 or equivalent, and completion of or concurrent registration in PHY 132 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Hernandez-Soto, Marzluff
CHM 364 - Physical Chemistry II 4 credits (Spring)
Selected topics in physical chemistry with emphasis on molecular structure and chemical bonding and the application of thermodynamic and quantum theory to a variety of physical chemical phenomena. Three classes, one laboratory each week.
Prerequisite: CHM 363 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Marzluff, Hernandez-Soto
CHM 399 - Directed Research 4 credits
See Directed Research.
Instructor: Staff
CHM 423 - Advanced Inorganic Chemistry 4 credits (Spring)
Selected topics, including atomic structure, bonding, acid-base theories, coordination chemistry, crystal structure, and inorganic reactions. Three classes, one laboratory each week.
Prerequisite: CHM 363 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Minelli
CHM 499 - Mentored Advanced Project 2 or 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
See additional information on Mentored Advanced Projects.
Chinese and Japanese
CHI 101 - Beginning Chinese I 5 credits (Fall)
An introductory course to modern (Mandarin) Chinese that teaches the skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Instructional emphasis is laid on both linguistic aspects (pronunciation, vocabulary, and structures) and on sociocultural strategies in communication. Students learn approximately 550 frequently used core graphs and their use in context.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Tang
CHI 102 - Beginning Chinese II 5 credits (Spring)
An introductory course to modern (Mandarin) Chinese that teaches the skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Instructional emphasis is laid on both linguistic aspects (pronunciation, vocabulary, and structures) and on sociocultural strategies in communication. Students learn approximately 550 frequently used core graphs and their use in context.
Prerequisite: CHI 101 .
Instructor: Tang
CHI 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: Love and Impermanence, Feast and Reclusion: Major Themes in Classical Chinese Lyrical Tradition
Cross-listed as: EAS 195-01 and GLS 195-01 . We will read in translation and study the formulation of a Chinese lyrical tradition through reading a selection of famous Chinese poems from the antiquity to medieval China. As we appreciate the individual poems by examining the metric, structural and stylistic features unique to classical Chinese poetry, the historical and cultural contexts in which these poems were produced and consumed will also be considered.
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Tang
CHI 221 - Intermediate Chinese I 4 credits (Fall)
Reinforcement and expansion of the grammatical basis and communicative competence gained in CHI 101 and CHI 102 . Continued practice of oral and listening skills, but with increased emphasis on reading and writing skills. Stress is on the acquisition of core graphs (to approximately 1,500), vocabulary, and complex sentence patterns. Simplified characters are also introduced.
Prerequisite: CHI 102 .
Instructor: Feng
CHI 222 - Intermediate Chinese II 4 credits (Spring)
Reinforcement and expansion of the grammatical basis and communicative competence gained in CHI 101 and CHI 102 . Continued practice of oral and listening skills, but with increased emphasis on reading and writing skills. Stress is on the acquisition of core graphs (to approximately 1,500), vocabulary, and complex sentence patterns. Simplified characters are also introduced.
Prerequisite: CHI 221 .
Instructor: Feng
CHI 230 - Chinese Women: Past and Present 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This course will examine literary and cinematic representations of Chinese women, past and present by using gender as a category of analysis. Literary and cinematic focus is on the complex and changing relationship of Chinese women to normative gender codes and conventions over the course of some 2,000 years.
Prerequisite: None
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Feng
CHI 277 - Modern China through Literature and Film (in Translation) 4 credits
Cross-listed as: GLS 277 . This course examines literature and society in China starting from the turn of the 20th century through the critical study of selected samples of the literary and cinematic products of this tumultuous historical period. Attention is particularly focused on the political, cultural, and aesthetic messages that the literary and cinematic forms convey and disseminate. All readings and discussion are in English.
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Feng
CHI 288 - Chinese Food for Thought 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Cross-listed as: EAS 288 . Food is a prism that absorbs and reflects a host of cultural phenomena. An examination of Chinese and Chinese American foodways–behaviors and beliefs surrounding the production, distribution, processing, preparation, and consumption of food–reveals power relations and ways of constructing class, gender, and racial identities. This course analyzes foodways in various historical and contemporary contexts. It brings different types of materials and approaches to bear on the study of our most basic, visceral experience.
Prerequisite: Second-year standing and successful completion of tutorial.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Feng
CHI 331 - Advanced Chinese I 4 credits (Fall)
Further reinforcement, expansion, and refinement of grammatical proficiency and communicative skills through intensive reading of authentic Chinese materials, such as short stories, newspapers, and journals, and viewing of films and television broadcasts. Particular emphasis also given to increasing level of literary appreciation and critical awareness of the sociocultural contexts that shape readings.
Prerequisite: CHI 222 .
Instructor: Feng
CHI 332 - Advanced Chinese II 4 credits (Spring)
Further reinforcement, expansion, and refinement of grammatical proficiency and communicative skills through intensive reading of authentic Chinese materials, such as short stories, newspapers, and journals, and viewing of films and television broadcasts. Particular emphasis also given to increasing level of literary appreciation and critical awareness of the sociocultural contexts that shape readings.
Prerequisite: CHI 331 .
Instructor: Tang
CHI 387 - Individual Reading 2 or 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Designed to satisfy needs and interests of majors who have otherwise exhausted departmental language offerings.
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor and department chair.
Instructor: Staff
CHI 461 - Classical Chinese 4 credits (Fall)
Intensive treatment of the basic particles and grammatical structure of the literary Chinese language (wenyan). Development of skills in understanding and recognizing syntactic parallelism, contextual clues, and rhetorical structures through the reading of selected works of classical prose and poetry.
Prerequisite: CHI 332 .
Instructor: Tang
CHI 498 - Readings in Chinese Literature 4 credits (Spring)
This course is designed to increase students’ proficiency in reading, interpreting, and discussing Chinese literature in its original language, and thereby build upon the linguistic foundation acquired in both Classical Chinese (CHI 461 ) and the three-year language sequence. Literature for the course will consist of a thematically focused set of textual materials taken from both pre-modern and modern sources, including literary, philosophical, and religious texts. Conducted in Chinese.
Prerequisite: CHI 332 and CHI 461 .
Instructor: Feng
JPN 101 - Beginning Japanese I 5 credits (Fall)
An introductory course that teaches the skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Instructional emphasis is laid on both linguistic aspects (pronunciation, vocabulary, and structures) and on sociocultural strategies in communication. Students learn both Japanese syllabaries and are introduced to kanji.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Schimmel
JPN 102 - Beginning Japanese II 5 credits (Spring)
A continuation of Beginning Japanese I, emphasizing the skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Instructional emphasis is laid on both linguistic aspects (pronunciation, vocabulary, and structures) and on sociocultural strategies in communication. Students will have learned at least 100 kanji by the end of the course.
Prerequisite: JPN 101 .
Instructor: Schimmel
JPN 221 - Intermediate Japanese I 4 credits (Fall)
Reinforcement and expansion of Japanese grammar and communicative competence for students who have previously studied Japanese. Students will gain advancement in the four skills of speaking, listening, reading, and writing.
Prerequisite: JPN 102 .
Instructor: Staff
JPN 222 - Intermediate Japanese II 4 credits (Spring)
Further reinforcement and expansion of Japanese grammar and communicative competence, and advancement in the four skills of speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Students will have learned at least 300 kanji by the end of the course.
Prerequisite: JPN 221 .
Instructor: Staff
JPN 279 - Modern Japanese Fiction and Film 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Cross-listed as: GLS 279 . This course considers Japanese fiction and films that depict Japan from the mid-19th century through the present day. The work of some major authors and film directors will be introduced to examine Japanese culture and society, as well as the characteristics that are unique to Japanese fiction and film. Readings and discussions in English.
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Not offered every year. Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Schimmel
JPN 295-01 - Special Topic: Phonolgy: The Case of Japanese 4 credits (Spring)
Cross-listed as: EAS 295-03 and LIN 295-02 . Phonology is the scientific study of the sound patterns of languages. This course examines the bases of phonological theory from rules to constraints through various phonological and morphophonological phenomena in Japanese. We will examine various languages other than Japanese to broaden our understanding of the central tenets of phonological theory. This course further explores the nature of language acquisition from the viewpoints of phonological theory and experimental phonology, including second language acquisition.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Kojima
JPN 331 - Advanced Japanese I 4 credits (Fall)
This course is for those students who have finished Intermediate Japanese II or an equivalent course. An integrated approach will be taken by the instructor so students will be able to develop both their speaking and writing skills in Japanese.
Prerequisite: JPN 222 .
Instructor: Schimmel
JPN 332 - Advanced Japanese II 4 credits (Spring)
This course is for those students who have finished Advanced Japanese I or an equivalent course. An integrated approach will be taken by the instructor so students will be able to develop both their speaking and writing skills in Japanese.
Prerequisite: JPN 331 .
Instructor: Staff
JPN 387 - Individual Reading 2 or 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Designed to satisfy needs and interests of majors who have otherwise exhausted departmental language offerings.
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor and department chair.
Instructor: StaffClassics
CLS 231 - History of Ancient Philosophy 4 credits (Fall)
See PHI 231 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
CLS 242 - Classical Mythology 4 credits (Spring)
Cross-listed as: GLS 242 . A systematic study of the most important stories and figures of classical mythology, with emphasis on the reading and interpretation of primary Greek and Roman literary sources and on the contribution of feminist criticism, anthropology, religion, and psychology to this study.
Prerequisite: HUM 101 recommended.
Note: Not offered every year. Plus-2 option available.
Foreign language option available in Greek and Latin.
Instructor: Mercado
CLS 248 - Greek Archaeology and Art 4 credits (Spring)
Cross-listed as: ARH 248 . A study of major archaeological excavations and artistic genres of ancient Greece, and their relationship to political and cultural history; the exchange of artistic and archaeological influences with contemporary cultures of Europe, Africa, and Asia.
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: M. Cummins
CLS 250 - Roman Archaeology and Art 4 credits (Spring)
Cross-listed as: ARH 250 . A study of the major monuments and artifacts of ancient Etruria and Rome; their relationship to the political and cultural history; the Roman borrowing and adoption of Greek forms, as well as original expression in art and architecture. Roman artistic exchange with other cultures of Europe, Africa, and Asia.
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: M. Cummins
CLS 255 - History of Ancient Greece 4 credits (Fall)
Cross-listed as: HIS 255 . The political, military, social, economic, and intellectual history of the Greeks in the Archaic and Classical periods and their relationship with other peoples of Europe, Africa, and Asia. Focus on the evolution of the Athenian and Spartan constitutions, the Persian War, Athenian imperialism and the Peloponnesian War, the rise of Macedon, and Alexander’s conquest of Egypt and the Near East.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 or second year standing.
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
CLS 257 - The Roman Republic 4 credits (Fall)
Cross-listed as: HIS 257 . This course examines the rise of Rome from a village on the banks of the Tiber River to an imperial Mediterranean power governed by a republic (753 BCE to 14 CE). It focuses on Rome’s expansion in Italy, its struggle with Carthage, the tumultuous “fall” of the republic, the Augustan settlement and the transition to empire. Attention is also given to Roman social and religious life. Students analyze both literary texts and archaeological evidence.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 or second-year standing.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Cummins
CLS 258 - The Roman Empire 4 credits (Fall)
Cross-listed as: HIS 258 . This course examines the Roman Empire from the accession of Augustus through the reign of the last western emperor, Romulus Augustulus (27 BCE-476 CE). It focuses on political, military, social and religious developments, with special attention given to specific subject populations such as the Jews and Christians, and to life in the provinces and on the frontiers of the empire. Students analyze both literary texts and archaeological evidence.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 or second year standing.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Cummins
CLS 263 - Political Theory I 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
See PHI 263 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
CLS 270 - Indo-European Language and Culture 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Cross-listed as: LIN 270 . Many ancient and modern languages, including Greek, English, German, Latin, French, Spanish,and Russian, are “sisters” in a language “family” called Indo-European. Although no documents written in their “mother” tongue survive, linguists can reconstruct many aspects of Proto-Indo-European by working backwards from the “daughter” languages. This course explores the development of systems of sound and word/phrase structure that allow us to reconstruct a completely extinct language, as well as aspects of its speakers’ culture.
Prerequisite: Second year standing. Recommended: at least one from GRE 101 , LAT 103 , ENG 230 , FRN 221 , GRM 221 , RUS 221 , SPN 217 , ANT 260 , LIN 114 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Mercado
CLS 395-01 - Advanced Special Topic: Greek Ethical Thought 4 credits (Spring)
See PHI 395-01 .
CLS 495 - Senior Seminar 4 credits (Spring)
Devoted to major themes in Greek and Roman culture, the seminar allows seniors to integrate their study of classics and related fields. Participants will plan topics and present papers that serve as a basis for analysis and discussion.
Prerequisite: Senior standing and permission of department.
Instructor: Staff
GRE 101 - Elementary Greek 5 credits (Fall)
The fundamentals of ancient Greek inflection, grammar, syntax, and literary style, based on simplified readings from Attic prose and poetry.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Staff
GRE 222 - Intermediate Greek 5 credits (Spring)
Continuation of GRE 101 . Review of forms and grammar. Introduction to a range of Greek poetic and prose literature, with selected short readings from Homer, lyric poetry, Herodotus, Sophocles, Euripides, Plato, and the Christian Scriptures.
Prerequisite: GRE 101 .
Instructor: Staff
GRE 301 - Homer 4 credits (Spring)
Reading of selected passages from the Iliad, the Odyssey, or both epics; special readings in archaeological and critical background.
Prerequisite: GRE 222 and HUM 101 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Staff
GRE 302 - Plato 4 credits (Fall)
Readings from one or more of Plato’s dialogues with attention to language, literary features, and philosophy.
Prerequisite: GRE 222 and HUM 101 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: J. Cummins
GRE 303 - Greek Drama 4 credits (Spring)
Reading of two plays with study of literary form, the myths, and relevant social, religious, and philosophical issues.
Prerequisite: GRE 222 and HUM 101 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Staff
GRE 304 - Greek Prose Writers 4 credits (Fall)
Reading and study of related works of one or more Greek prose writers, excluding Plato. Possibly to include history (Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon), philosophy (Aristotle), oratory (Andocides, Lysias, Demosthenes), or epigraphy.
Prerequisite: GRE 222 and HUM 101 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: M. Cummins
GRE 305 - Greek Poetry 4 credits (Fall)
Readings in Greek poetry, excluding Homer and drama. Possibly to include Archaic lyric and elegiac poets (e.g., Sappho, Archilochus, Solon), Pindar and Bacchylides, or the Hellenistic poets (Apollonius, Theocritus, Callimachus). Introduction to Greek metrics and literary dialects. Emphasis on close reading and critical analysis of the texts.
Prerequisite: GRE 222 and HUM 101 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Staff
GRE 387 - Individual Reading 2 or 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Supervised readings designed to fit special needs of students — for example, those who wish to develop facility in reading New Testament Greek.
Prerequisite: At least one reading course in Greek and permission of instructor.
Instructor: Staff
LAT 103 - Elementary Latin 5 credits (Fall)
The fundamentals of Latin forms and sentence structure, based on sentences and connected reading from classical Latin literature.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: M. Cummins, Mercado
LAT 222 - Intermediate Latin 5 credits (Spring)
Continuation of LAT 103 . Readings in classical Latin prose and poetry, with review and composition as needed in order to attain a reading knowledge of Latin.
Prerequisite: LAT 103 .
Instructor: M. Cummins, Mercado
LAT 225 - Reading Latin 4 credits (Fall)
An intermediate course that can function as a continuation of LAT 222 or as a review class for students with substantial prior work in Latin at the secondary or collegiate level. Review of fundamentals with an emphasis on reading and interpreting a variety of texts.
Prerequisite: LAT 222 , or at least two years of secondary-school Latin.
Instructor: Staff
LAT 318 - Roman Satire 4 credits (Fall)
Readings in Lucretius, Horace, and Juvenal: the poetry of criticism and wit. Roman originality, Epicurean and Stoic stances in this complex and chameleonic genre, the interplay of moral voice and sense of humor, relations between philosophy and satire, rhetoric, and poetry.
Prerequisite: LAT 222 , or LAT 225 and HUM 101 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Staff
LAT 320 - Cicero 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Readings from Cicero’s speeches, essays, or letters, with special attention to language, subject matter, rhetoric, literary artistry in general, and historical setting.
Prerequisite: LAT 222 or LAT 225 , and HUM 101 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: J. Cummins
LAT 323 - Vergil 4 credits (Spring)
Readings in the Eclogues, the Georgics, and the Aeneid; the development of Vergilian poetic technique; the civilized and national epic as a new form and its influence on Roman and later cultures; the pastoral tradition, Greek literary precedents.
Prerequisite: LAT 222 or LAT 225 , and HUM 101 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Mercado
LAT 333 - Roman Historians 4 credits (Fall)
Selected readings from Sallust, Bellum Catilinae, Bellum Iugurthinum, and Livy, Ab Urbe Condita; the interpretation of Rome’s past by historians of the era of transition from republic to empire.
Prerequisite: LAT 222 or LAT 225 , and HUM 101 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: M. Cummins
LAT 334 - Roman Lyric Poetry 4 credits (Spring)
The poetry of Catullus and the Odes of Horace. Critical analysis, the Greek background and models, the art and philosophy of Horace as the culmination of classical humanism.
Prerequisite: LAT 222 or LAT 225 , and HUM 101 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Staff
LAT 344 - Roman Thought 4 credits (Fall)
The poetry of Lucretius and some of the essays of Cicero will be studied for the ways in which they present Greek ideas to a Roman audience, on the subjects of nature, religion, politics, and the goals of life.
Prerequisite: LAT 222 or LAT 225 , and HUM 101 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: J. Cummins
LAT 387 - Individual Reading 2 or 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Supervised reading designed to fit special needs of students.
Prerequisite: At least one reading course in Latin and permission of instructor.
Instructor: Staff
LAT 395-01 - Advanced Special Topic: Petronius 4 credits (Fall)
Readings from Petronius’ Satyrica, a controversial, hilarious, biting satire of imperial Rome and arguably the first extant novel of the Western world. Analyses and discussions will give special attention to the Satyrica’s genre and form, style, and cultural context (including ancient homosexuality, Roman slavery, and the principate).
Prerequisite: LAT 222 .
Instructor: DixonComputer Science
CSC 105 - The Digital Age 4 credits (Spring)
A study of core topics and great ideas in the field of computer science, focusing on underlying algorithmic principles and social implications. Topics may include multimedia and hypermedia, networks, architecture, programming languages, software design, artificial intelligence, databases, cryptography, and the theory of computing. Includes formal laboratory work.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Osera, Weinman
CSC 151 - Functional Problem Solving 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
A lab-based introduction to basic ideas of computer science, including recursion, abstraction, scope and binding, modularity, the design and analysis of algorithms, and the fundamentals of programming in a high-level, functional language. Includes formal laboratory work. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Staff
CSC 151-01, 02 & 03 - Functional Problem Solving (Data Science) 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
In these sections of CSC 151, we will ground our study of functional problem solving in approaches related to the practice of data science. In particular, we will explore and develop algorithms and programs that gather, reorganize, filter, combine, analyze, and visualize both structured and unstructured data. The course employs a workshop format: In most class sessions, students will collaboratively explore a variety of problems and collections of data. Includes formal laboratory work.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Klinge, Rebelsky
CSC 161 - Imperative Problem Solving 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
CSC161 emphasizes concepts closely tied to the architecture of computers, compilers, and operating systems, such as macro processing, compilation and linking, pointers and memory management, data representation, and software development tools. Additional topics include assertions and invariants, data abstraction, linked data structures, an introduction to the use of the GNU/Linux operating system, and programming in a low-level, imperative language. Includes formal laboratory work. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: CSC 151 .
Instructor: Staff
CSC 161-01 & 02 - Imperative Problem Solving & Data Structures (Robots) 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
This section of CSC 161 will utilize robotics as an application domain in studying imperative problem solving, data representation, and memory management. Additional topics will include assertions and invariants, data abstraction, linked data structures, an introduction to the GNU/Linux operating system, and programming the low-level, imperative language C. The course will utilize a workshop style, in which students will frequently work collaboratively on a series of problems. Includes formal laboratory work.
Prerequisite: CSC 151 .
Instructor: Walker, Weinman
CSC 205 - Computational Linguistics 4 credits (Fall)
Cross-listed as: LIN 205 An examination of computational techniques for producing and processing text in natural languages and an introduction to the theoretical basis for those techniques, both in linguistics and in computer science. Topics include generative grammars, parsing, algorithms for automatic indexing, information retrieval, and natural-language interfaces.
Prerequisite: LIN 114 and CSC 151 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: J. Stone
CSC 207 - Object-Oriented Problem Solving, Data Structure, and Algorithms 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
An introduction to the ideas and practices of object-oriented computation: message passing, information hiding, classes and interfaces, inheritance, polymorphism, and reflection. The course also includes data structures and the associated algorithms, packages and libraries, exceptions, and the use of an integrated software-development environment. Includes formal laboratory work.
Prerequisite: CSC 151 and CSC 161 .
Instructor: Osera, Rebelsky
CSC 208 - Discrete Structures 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
Cross-listed as: MAT 208 . How do we “know” that a mathematical or logical statement is correct? What common properties appear among different collections? How might we represent functions, and how can we tell if two functions with different representations are the same? Can we formally describe and understand common diagrams? We consider such questions as we develop both intuition and formal mechanisms for addressing them. Along the way, we explore Boolean logic, proof techniques, sets, structures that include trees and graphs, and more. Students who have previously taken MAT 218 may not subsequently take CSC/MAT 208.
Prerequisite: and either or . Prerequisite or co-requisite: CSC 161 .
Instructor: Mileti, J. Stone
CSC 211 - Computer Organization and Architecture 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Study of both traditional and alternative computer architectures. Introduction to digital logic, microcode, Von Neumann architectures, data representations, fetch/execute model, RISC/CISC, instruction formats and addressing, machine and assembly language, memory architecture and algorithms, I/O architecture, and elements of distributed systems. Includes formal laboratory work.
Prerequisite: CSC 161 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Curtsinger
CSC 213 - Operating Systems and Parallel Algorithms 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Study of the principal components of typical operating systems and an introduction to parallel algorithms. Topics from operating systems: storage management, scheduling, concurrent processing, synchronization, data protection, and security. Discussion of models of parallelism and algorithms for problems in such areas as lists, trees, searching, sorting, graphs, geometry, and strings. Includes formal laboratory work.
Prerequisite: CSC 161 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Curtsinger, Weinman
CSC 214 - Computer and Network Security 2 credits (Fall or Spring)
This course deals with the security of computing systems and the networks over which they communicate, including tools and techniques for undermining or for reinforcing the reliability and usability of computer systems, the theoretical concepts that underlie those techniques, and the ways in which governments, corporations, interest groups, and individuals currently use them.
Prerequisite: CSC 161 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Curtsinger, J. Stone
CSC 216 - Computer Networks 2 credits (Fall or Spring)
Introduction to the communication protocols that make up the modern Internet - their functionality, specification, implementation, and performance. Includes hands-on laboratory work.
Prerequisite: CSC 161 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Curtsinger
CSC 232 - Human-Computer Interaction 2 credits (Fall or Spring)
Cross-listed as: PSY 232 and TEC 232 . Introduction to fundamental principles and methods of human-centered interaction design: Human capabilities and limitations, usability and accessibility guidelines, iterative design, contextual inquiry, task analysis, prototyping, evaluation. Includes hands-on laboratory work.
Prerequisite: CSC 105 , CSC 151 , PSY 113 or TEC 154 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Staff
CSC 261 - Artificial Intelligence 4 credits (Fall)
An introduction to current principles, approaches, and applications of artificial intelligence, with an emphasis on problem-solving methods, knowledge representation, reasoning with uncertainty, and heuristic search. Study of a range of AI approaches, such as rule-based systems, neural networks, and systems for machine learning. Review of several applications areas such as game playing, natural language processing, robotics, theorem proving, and perception.
Prerequisite: CSC 161 and CSC 208 , MAT 208 , or MAT 218 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Weinman
CSC 262 - Computer Vision 4 credits (Spring)
How can computers understand images? This course covers principles in computational vision and their relationship to human visual perception. Topics may include geometry of image formation, image filtering and representation, texture analysis, 3-D reconstruction from stereo and motion, image segmentation, object detection, and recognition. Students implement and evaluate methods on real images in laboratory exercises and an independent project.
Prerequisite: CSC 161 and MAT 215 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Weinman
CSC 281 - Life Beyond Grinnell - Learning from Computer Science Alumni 1 credits (Fall)
This course challenges you to think beyond your time at Grinnell. Alumni with careers related to computer science will tell their own stories so that we can learn how they constructed their lives and careers. They will also provide advice as you think about your own career and life. Readings and assignments will encourage further reflection. Variable topic course. Repeatable for credit when content changes.
Prerequisite: CSC 151 .
S/D/F only.
Instructor: Rebelsky
CSC 282 - Thinking in C and Unix 1 credits (Spring)
The most successful software designers master a variety of languages, algorithms, and software design methodologies. In this course, you will examine the Unix approach to software design. You will ground that examination, in part, by developing programs that deepen your understanding of advanced techniques of the C programming language. Includes laboratory work.
Prerequisite: CSC 161 .
S/D/F only.
Instructor: Rebelsky
CSC 301 - Analysis of Algorithms 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
Study methods for designing, analyzing, and implementing algorithms and data structures. The course explores formal and precise mechanisms for analyzing efficiency and verifying correctness and both iterative and recursive algorithms. Studies also cover a variety of fundamental algorithms, abstract data types, and data structures. Algorithm design strategies included greedy, divide-and-conquer, exhaustive search, and dynamic programming. Additional topics may include approximation, parallel, or randomized algorithms.
Prerequisite: CSC 207 and either MAT 218 , CSC 208 or MAT 208
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Rebelsky, J. Stone
CSC 312 - Programming Language Implementation 2 credits (Fall or Spring)
A hands-on approach to understanding the essential concepts of programming languages (such as evaluation, binding, procedural abstraction, state, control flow, data abstraction, types, and inheritance) by writing interpreters that implement those concepts.
Prerequisite: CSC 207 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: J. Stone, Osera
CSC 321 - Software Development Principles and Practices 2 credits (Fall and Spring)
Provides a foundation for “programming in the large” and developing high-quality software that meets human needs. Introduces the software lifecycle, agile development methods, professional tools, and software design principles. Includes laboratory work.
Prerequisite: CSC 207 .
Instructor: Rebelsky
CSC 322 - Team Software Development for Community Organizations 2 credits (Fall and Spring)
Application of software development principles and practices to a large-scale project. Teams will develop software for a community organization, supported by a faculty adviser and an alumni technical mentor. Students will gain experience working with a client, as well as a substantial code base suitable for inclusion in a professional portfolio. Students are encouraged to repeat the course for credit to experience multiple roles within a team and multiple phases of the software lifecycle.
Prerequisite: CSC 207 . Prerequisite or co-requisite: CSC 321 .
Instructor: Rebelsky
CSC 341 - Automata, Formal Languages, and Computational Complexity 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
A formal study of computational devices, their related languages, and the possibility and difficulty of computations. Examples are pushdown automata and Turing machines, context-free languages and recursively enumerable sets, and the halting problem and NP-completeness.
Prerequisite: CSC 207 and either MAT 218 , or MAT 208 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Osera, J. Stone
CSC 395-01 - Advanced Special Topic: Molecular Programming and Nanoscale Self-Assembly 4 credits (Fall)
Molecular programming is an interdisciplinary field that aims to program both the function and structure of matter at the nanoscale. The primary focus of this course is an overview of the most prevalent molecular programming language: the chemical reaction network. We will explore their ability to compute, how they are programmed, and how to compile them into physical molecules. We will also survey methods of self-assembly, including DNA origami and DNA tile self-assembly.
Prerequisite: CSC 161 and CSC 208 .
Instructor: KlingeEast Asian Studies
EAS 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: Love and Impermanence, Feast and Reclusion: Major Themes in Classical Chinese Lyrical Tradition 4 credits (Spring)
See CHI 195-01 or GLS 195-01 .
EAS 288 - Chinese Food for Thought 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
See CHI 288 .
Note: Not offered every year.
EAS 295-01 - Special Topic: The Global Mongol Century: In the Footsteps of Marco Polo
See ARH 295-01 .
EAS 295-02 - Special Topic: Gender & Sexuality East Asian Art 4 credits (Spring)
See ARH 295-02 .
EAS 295-03 - Special Topic: Phonolgy: The Case of Japanese
See JPN 295-01 or LIN 295-02 .
Economics
ECN 111 - Introduction to Economics 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
A survey of the basic concepts and methods of analysis used in economics. Application to such policy problems as economic recession, inflation, regulation of industry, poverty and income distribution, financial crises, pollution, and trade restrictions.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Staff
ECN 205 - Current State of the U.S. Economy 4 credits
A study of current business conditions and key public policy problems in the United States. Analysis of the data reporting system and judgmental forecasting. Recent problems have included: inflation, the federal deficit, government regulation, energy, unemployment, and tax reform. Not intended for students who have taken ECN 282 .
Prerequisite: ECN 111 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Staff
ECN 215 - Labor Economics 4 credits
An investigation into the political economy of labor markets. Consideration given to traditional supply and demand interactions, relations of authority between employers and employees and their influence on productivity, internal labor markets, labor market segmentation, the role of unions, racial differences, gender differences, and the effects of international competition on U.S. labor markets. Not intended for students who have taken both ECN 280 and ECN 282 .
Prerequisite: ECN 111 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Ferguson, Lee
ECN 218 - Gender and the Economy 4 credits
An examination and economic analysis of women’s changing economic status, primarily in the United States. Topics include wage differentials, occupational segregation, labor force participation, and family and work issues. This course also examines the interaction of race, gender, and class in determining economic status and policies for improving women’s economic options.
Prerequisite: ECN 111 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Staff
ECN 220 - Foundations of Policy Analysis 4 credits (Spring)
Cross-listed as: PST 220 . This course explores principles of policy making, with applications. It opens by examining theoretical rationales for policy, including those premised on ideology or market failure. It proceeds to investigate institutional context and processes relevant to policy making, using case studies. With this foundation, the course explores specific policy problems and solutions related to
important problem areas such as economic growth, health care, monetary policy, education, and environment. Students will be encouraged to investigate policy areas of interest for case studies and papers.
Prerequisite: ECN 111 and second-year standing.
Instructor: Ferguson
ECN 226 - Economics of Innovation 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
An examination of the role of innovation in the economy. Topics include the process of innovation, drivers of innovation, intellectual property, the impact of innovation on firms, labor, economic growth, and inequality, and innovation policy. Not intended for students who have taken ECN 280 .
Prerequisite: ECN 111 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: B. Graham
ECN 228 - Introduction to Managerial Economics 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Managerial Economics presents a microeconomic approach to business decisions. The concepts and problems are analyzed from the perspective of the firm and the managers’ decisions. Emphasis is thus placed on the study of the production process and the analysis of interactions in markets, both with the customers and the rival firms. Topics include: managing in competitive, monopolistic, and oligopolistic markets; strategic interactions and game theory; pricing; information and market structure; and regulation and public policy.
Prerequisite: ECN 111 .
Instructor: Montgomery
ECN 229 - American Economic History 4 credits
Cross-listed as: HIS 229 . Development of the U.S. economy since colonial times. Contributions and limitations of economic analysis and quantitative methods in understanding the economy’s growth, industrialization, markets, railroads, the Revolution, slavery, greenback and silver controversies, the multinational monopoly, the New Deal, the Depression, and the impact of reforms on future international economic relations.
Prerequisite: ECN 111 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Staff
ECN 230 - Economic Development 4 credits
A survey of analytic approaches to the process of economic development in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and an examination of their significant policy problems.
Prerequisite: ECN 111 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Staff
ECN 233 - International Economics 4 credits
An introduction to international trade theory, balance of payments concepts, and exchange rate determination. Topics include events, international institutions, and policies that affect trade, foreign investment, economic stability, and growth. Not intended for students who have taken ECN 280 and ECN 282 .
Prerequisite: ECN 111 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Chan
ECN 240 - Resource and Environmental Economics 4 credits
Investigation of the economics of renewable and nonrenewable natural resources. Particular emphasis on the relationship between the biological and physical characteristics of particular resources and our economic choices. Consideration of selected current problems. Not intended for students who have taken ECN 280 .
Prerequisite: ECN 111 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Montgomery
ECN 245 - Financial Economics 4 credits
This course examines the financial system’s role in the domestic and global economy. It surveys financial markets (e.g. common stock markets), players (e.g. investment companies), and instruments (e.g. options and futures contracts) with a focus on the underlying economic and regulatory forces that shape the financial system and its impact on the broader economy. Not intended for students who have previously taken ECN 280 or ECN 282 .
Prerequisite: ECN 111 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Staff
ECN 250 - Public Finance 4 credits
The economic role of government in an economy. Topics include the determination of the size and economic function of government, expenditure decisions and budgeting, the incidence and distributional effects of various taxes, and issues in state and local finance. Not intended for students who have taken ECN 280 .
Prerequisite: ECN 111 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Brouhle, Ohrn
ECN 280 - Microeconomic Analysis 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
An examination of the theoretical underpinnings of the economic system. The objective is to develop a theoretical framework with which to investigate the economic behavior of individual consumers, firms, and resource owners.
Prerequisite: MAT 124 or MAT 131 , and ECN 111 , and second-year standing, and one additional economics course numbered between 205 and 250. Effective Spring 2018 the prerequisite will be MAT 124 or MAT 131 , second year standing and one additional economics course numbered between 205 and 250.
Instructor: Brouhle, McGavock
ECN 282 - Macroeconomic Analysis 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
Analysis of economic aggregates, primarily national income and employment, through a theoretical framework. While current and historical real world examples will be used to illustrate concepts, the primary goal is the development of general tools that enable students to understand the behavior of a macroeconomy.
Prerequisite: MAT 124 or MAT 131 , and ECN 111 , and second-year standing, and one additional economics course numbered between 205 and 250. Effective Spring 18 the prerequisite will be: MAT 124 or MAT 131 , second-year standing, and one additional economics course numbered between 205 and 250.
Instructor: Chan, Staff
ECN 286 - Econometrics 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
The use of statistical techniques to estimate and test economic models. Topics include multiple regression, multicollinearity, serial correlation, heteroskedasticity, simultaneous equations, limited dependent variables, and time series/forecasting.
Prerequisite: MAT 209 or MAT 335 . Effective Spring 2018 the prerequisite will be ECN 111 , second-year standing, and MAT 209 , MAT 309 , MAT 310 , or MAT 335 . ECN 280 or ECN 282 recommended.
Instructor: Graham, Lee
ECN 295-01 - Special Topic: Globalization and Trade Policy 4 credits (Spring)
The main theme of this course is globalization with a focus on international trade. We start out by discussing past and current trends in world trade; theoretical foundations of why and what nations trade and their welfare implications. We then introduce the political economy of trade policy and institutions of trade as well as examine trade agreements. Through readings and class discussions we cover current debates/controversies in trade-related globalization topics.
Prerequisite: ECN 111 .
Instructor: Karacaovali
ECN 326 - Financial and Managerial Accounting 4 credits (Fall)
A case-based introduction to the principles of financial and managerial accounting. Although this is a first course in accounting, the level of coverage is advanced. Students work in teams and are responsible for their own learning and the learning of their colleagues. Open only to third-year students and seniors.
Prerequisite: ECN 280 .
Instructor: Ohrn
ECN 327 - Corporate Finance 4 credits (Spring)
An intense examination of the basics of theory and practice in corporate financial management. An understanding of intermediate microeconomics and financial accounting and comfort with applied mathematics are essential for success in this course.
Prerequisite: ECN 280 and ECN 326 . Effective Spring 2018 the prerequisite will be ECN 280 .
Instructor: Ohrn
ECN 338 - Applied Game Theory 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
Game theory facilitates modeling strategic interaction among interdependent agents who share awareness of their interdependence. As such, it can generate analytical foundations for many relationships found in social and natural sciences. This course develops game theoretic modeling using visual representation and equations, with an emphasis on intuitive technique and direct application to examples primarily from economics and politics.
Prerequisite: ECN 111 and ECN 280 , and MAT 124 or MAT 131 . Effective Spring 2018 the prerequisite will be ECN 280 , and MAT 124 or MAT 131 .
Instructor: Ferguson, Staff
ECN 339 - Introduction to Mathematical Economics 4 credits
An introduction to mathematical models of economic behavior. Basic techniques in differential and integral calculus and linear algebra will be applied to a wide range of micro- and macroeconomic issues. Topics include comparative statics, optimization, and linear programming.
Prerequisite: MAT 133 , and ECN 280 and ECN 282 . MAT 215 is useful but not required.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Montgomery
ECN 369 - Seminar in Environmental Economics 4 credits
This course will familiarize students with the theory and application of economics to environmental problems and prepare them to analyze issues in environmental economics and policy. It will focus on the design of cost-effective environmental policies and on methods for determining the value of environmental amenities.
Prerequisite: ECN 280 ; and concurrent registration in or completion of ECN 262 (offered Fall 2011, 2012 and Spring 2012, 2013), or ECN 286 , or MAT 336 . Effective Spring 2018 the prerequisite will be ECN 280 and concurrent registration in or completion of ECN 286 or MAT 336 .
Instructor: Brouhle
ECN 370 - Seminar in Political Economy 4 credits
This course begins with the premise that many economic interactions are “political” in the sense that coalitions of participants, whose interests may differ, can influence important outcomes. The course will explore tendencies toward competition, cooperation, and conflict, and their relationship to constraints imposed by the forces of supply and demand, as they operate in various institutional arenas, such as labor markets or the national economy. The course will examine relevant theories of incomplete contracting under conditions of imperfect information with some attention to game theory, and then apply these concepts to contemporary problems concerning employment, economic growth, and the distribution of income and wealth.
Prerequisite: ECN 280 and ECN 282 . Effective Spring 2018 the prerequisite will be ECN 280 , ECN 282 , and concurrent registration in or completion of ECN 286 or MAT 336 .
Instructor: Ferguson
ECN 372 - Seminar in Economic Development 4 credits
Processes of growth and change in developing societies. Both theoretical and empirical modes of analysis introduced in the literature covered. Topics chosen from among population growth, agricultural development, industrialization, investment in human capital vs. physical capital, the balanced-unbalanced growth controversy, noneconomic factors in development and underdevelopment.
Prerequisite: ECN 282 . Effective Spring 2018 the prerequisite will be ECN 280 and concurrent registration in or completion of ECN 286 or MAT 336 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: McGavock
ECN 374 - Seminar in International Trade 4 credits
International trade theory and policy. Explanations of the pattern of trade, possible gains from trade, effects on income distribution and trends over time. Import restrictions, export promotion, and strategic government intervention. Operations of multinational corporations, migration, trade blocs, WTO negotiations, and other current topics.
Prerequisite: ECN 280 . Effective Spring 2018 the prerequisite will be ECN 280 and concurrent registration in or completion of ECN 286 or MAT 336 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Mutti
ECN 375 - Seminar in International Finance 4 credits
International financial relationships and macroeconomic policy. Financial markets, exchange rate determination, and the balance of payments. Trade balance adjustments, international capital flows, and domestic macroeconomic goals. Exchange rate regimes, currency blocs, debt crises, and other current topics.
Prerequisite: ECN 282 . Effective Spring 2018 the prerequisite will be ECN 282 and concurrent registration in or completion of ECN 286 or MAT 336 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Mutti
ECN 376 - Seminar in Income Distribution 4 credits
Examination of the distribution of income and wealth in the United States, covering conflicting explanations of economic inequality and policy debates. Topics include economic trends affecting U.S. workers, racial and sexual inequality, and poverty.
Prerequisite: ECN 280 and ECN 282 . Effective Spring 2018 the prerequisite will be ECN 280 , ECN 282 , and concurrent registration in or completion of ECN 286 or MAT 336 .
Instructor: Seiz
ECN 378 - Seminar in Law and Economics 4 credits
This course considers the application of economic theory to the law and legal institutions, including property, contract, tort, and criminal law. We will investigate how legal rules influence economic incentives and the allocation of resources. Topics include liability and negligence assignment, uncertainty, allocation of property rights, bargaining, remedies, criminal deterrence, and the litigation process.
Prerequisite: ECN 280 . Effective Spring 2018 the prerequisite will be ECN 280 and concurrent registration in or completion of ECN 286 or MAT 336 .
Instructor: Graham
ECN 379 - Seminar in the Economics of Crime 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This course is designed to increase student’s understanding of the determinants and consequences of criminality. We will explore all levels of crime and punishment from societies optimally choosing deterrence mechanisms to prisoners making behavioral decisions while incarcerated. Students should expect to learn a large portion of the literature regarding these issues as well as the econometric tools used in applied micro economics research.
Prerequisite: ECN 280 and ECN 286 . Effective Spring 2018 the prerequisite will be ECN 280 , and ECN 286 or MAT 336 .
Instructor: Lee
ECN 380 - Seminar in Monetary Economics 4 credits
Analysis of how monetary and financial institutions affect the growth and stability of economies internationally. Examination of theoretical controversies and evidence about relations between money and the real sectors of economies, interactions between central banks, international monetary authorities, and currency flows, and financial aspects of the inflation process and economic stability. Study of the effects of current changes in financial intermediaries and structures.
Prerequisite: ECN 282 . Effective Spring 2018 the prerequisite will be ECN 282 or concurrent registration in or completion of ECN 286 or MAT 336 .
Instructor: Chan
ECN 382 - Seminar in Industrial Organization 4 credits
An examination of the relationships between structure, conduct, and performance in the American economy. The seminar includes work with basic I/O theory, antitrust laws and litigation, industry studies, and alternative approaches to understanding corporate behavior in the American economy.
Prerequisite: ECN 280 . Effective Spring 2018 the prerequisite will be ECN 280 and concurrent registration in or completion of ECN 286 or MAT 336 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Staff
ECN 384 - Seminar in the Economics of Education 4 credits
Education becomes increasingly important as the “information economy” replaces the old industrial economy. This course explores some questions that are global, others that are personal: is better education the solution to poverty? Is investment in human capital the key to a nation’s development? Can vouchers improve public schools? Is a Grinnell education a better investment than putting those thousands of tuition dollars into the stock market? Should you go to law school?
Prerequisite: ECN 280 and ECN 282 and concurrent registration in or completion of ECN 286 , or MAT 336 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Montgomery
ECN 395-01 - Advanced Special Topic: Advanced Econometrics 4 credits (Spring)
This course expands upon the econometrics background provided by ECN 286, exploring the underlying properties of the estimators and learning to program their calculation in STATA. We will use matrix algebra to derive and calculate ordinary least squares, restricted least squares, generalized least squares, and instrumental variables, and use maximum likelihood estimation to explore, probit, logit, tobit and sample selection models.
Prerequisite: ECN 286 .
Instructor: Montgomery
ECN 395-01 - Advanced Special Topic: Experimental and Behavioral Economics 4 credits (Fall)
This course is an introduction to the tradition and methods of behavioral economics, including the use of experiments. Behavioral economics applies insights from psychology to improve our understanding of the decision making process and generate better predictions about the behavior of economic actors. Behavioral economists have developed a variety of theoretical tools supported by laboratory experiments as well as empirical findings from large data sets, field experiments and even “natural” experiments.
Prerequisite: ECN 280 .
Instructor: H. ChenEducation
EDU 101 - Educational Principles in a Pluralistic Society 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This course provides an overview of philosophical, historical, and sociological/anthropological perspectives on education with an emphasis on making connections between educational theories and schooling in the U.S. Special focus on practices that marginalize or disadvantage students. Ten hours of observation in schools required for all seeking licensure. Course required for Iowa teacher certification.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Staff
EDU 150 - Teaching Writing 2 credits (Fall or Spring)
See WRT 150 .
EDU 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: How Colleges Work: An Introduction to US Higher Education 2 credits (Spring)
This course provides an overview of how colleges work. It surveys the purpose of higher education, and examines US higher education from systemic, organizational, professional, economic, and sociological perspectives. Encountering literature such as college leadership roles, faculty worklife, and student development, this course will introduce students to the study of higher education and some of the prominent authors and theories in the field.
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Dates: March 12 to May 09. 1/2 semester deadlines apply.
Instructor: Robinson
EDU 210 - Historical Perspectives on U.S. Education 4 credits (Fall)
Cross-listed as: HIS 210 . Three questions guide our study of the history of U.S. education: (1) Whose interests should schools serve and whose interests have they served in the past? (2) What should be taught and why? and (3) How should schools be organized and operated? We explore current educational issues (e.g. resegregation, immigrant education, tracking, secularism, and homeschooling) through an historical lens that considers the ideologies and assumptions embedded in the institutions and policies of the U.S. school system.
Prerequisite: EDU 101 or second-year standing.
Instructor: Michaels
EDU 211 - The Politics of Educational Assessment 4 credits (Spring)
The course will begin with an examination of the purposes and limits of assessment and discussions of the ethical use of standardized tests. We will examine the concept of meritocracy as a guiding principle of the American education system and will trace the historical development of standardized measurements of intelligence and aptitude as tools used to track students and determine eligibility for further schooling. We will include an analysis of the current national debate on the K–12 education.
Prerequisite: EDU 101 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: P. Hutchison
EDU 212 - Critical Pedagogy and School Reform 4 credits (Fall)
This course is a study of critical pedagogy from its roots in Marxism and the Frankfurt School through current-day theoretical connections (postmodernism, critical theory, critical feminism, and critical race theory) and their relevance to American public education. We will examine the dual character of schools that helps to explain some difficulties of school reform; that is, the democratic promise of schooling on the one hand, and its institutional service to a society based on race, class, and gender privilege on the other.
Prerequisite: EDU 101 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Staff
EDU 213 - Cultural Politics of Language Teaching 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This course will focus primarily on issues critical to the teaching and learning of English in the United States and abroad. Concepts of language ideology, personal identity, and international development will be used as analytical frames for examining language policy, language instruction, and language shift. Multilingualism, the needs of U.S. English language learners, and the politics of heritage language maintenance will also be examined. This course fills a 200-level course elective for the Linguistics Concentration. This course is required for a teacher licensure candidate earning the ESL endorsement.
Prerequisite: EDU 101 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Jakubiak
EDU 215 - Reading and Writing Youth and Youth Cultures 4 credits (Spring)
Cross-listed as: ENG 215 . The course will have a dual focus: (1) an examination and critique of the dominant narrative of adolescence enacted through educational, legal, and medical institutions with the aim of exploring how these constructions enable or constrain young people from developing as autonomous and critical adults, (2) and the use of various critical approaches to analyze texts written for young adults to uncover assumptions about what adolescence is and how young people themselves should encounter the world.
Prerequisite: EDU 101 or ENG 120 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Jones
EDU 217 - Comparative and International Education 4 credits (Spring)
Education can be a vehicle for world peace, reducing poverty and creating greater equality in the world. Or such is the claim of a multitude of education projects funded by grassroots initiatives and transnational organizations, including UNESCO, the World Bank, and nongovernment organizations (NGOs). In this course we learn to evaluate transnational education projects against their stated and implied goals, while considering their impact on local economies, communities, and education systems. We also investigate how globalization and democratization implicate education in broadscale changes. Student interests influence the countries we use in our case studies.
Prerequisite: EDU 101 or second-year standing.
Note: Foreign language option available in any language.
Instructor: Michaels
EDU 218 - Place-Based Education 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This course will address issues salient to place-based education, an educational philosophy that construes local communities (environmental and social), indigenous knowledge practices, and service-learning as the curricular building blocks of education defined broadly. Readings will include works addressing ecojustice, the broader social purposes of education, and the politics of place. Globalization and its intersections with notions of “the local” will also be a focus.
Prerequisite: EDU 101 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Jakubiak
EDU 221 - Educational Psychology 4 credits (Spring)
The application of theories of learning and principles of development in formal instructional environments. Topics include behavioral, cognitive, and sociocultural theories of learning, motivation, several developmental theories relevant to teaching and learning, and assessment theory. Course requires 26 hours (2 hours per week) observing/teaching in a K-12 classroom. Required for Iowa Teaching Licensure.
Prerequisite: EDU 101 and at least second-year standing.
Instructor: P. Hutchison
EDU 250 - Differentiating Instruction for All Students 4 credits (Fall)
This course aims to help future teachers develop ethical and effective approaches for meeting all students’ learning needs, using a critical model of inclusion based on a disability studies framework. The course will center on two key activities: a case study at the middle or high school, and the peer lessons developed using approaches that help all students learn more effectively. The case study will require that students spend 2 hours per week (26 hours) in the school observing, tutoring, and talking with students. In the course, students will develop research skills to improve their own teaching and will analyze how particular students learn, how teachers adapt instruction to meet a wide range of student learning needs, and how schools organize curricular paths for students. Required for Iowa Teaching Licensure.
Prerequisite: EDU 101 and EDU 221 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Jakubiak
EDU 295-01 - Special Topic: Critical Literacy for Diverse Learners 4 credits (Fall)
This course will examine literacy and literacy education from historical, theoretical, critical, and pedagogical perspectives. Guiding questions include: How do schools define literacy? To what extent do schools draw upon variously situated students’ home-based and community-based literacy practices? How do students acquire literacy in a second language if they do not possess literacy in their primary home language? What is the relation between critical literacy practices (e.g., media literacy, new literacies) and school-based, academic literacy?
Prerequisite: EDU 101 .
Instructor: Jones
EDU 295-01 - Special Topic: Education Policy and Politics 4 credits (Spring)
Over the past 60 years schools in America have shifted from highly localized institutions to institutions that are increasingly influenced by state and national policy makers. This change has brought ideas about how students should learn, what students should learn, and how schools should be organized to the forefront of political campaigns and platforms.
Prerequisite: EDU 101 or second-year standing.
Instructor: Hastings
EDU 340 - Research and Methods in Teaching the Young Adult 4 credits (Spring)
This course is taken with a complementary disciplinary specific methods course. Students will analyze and experiment with a variety of critical approaches to texts, will review and evaluate teaching materials, and will explore alternative means of evaluation of all the types of learning that should be happening in a classroom. Students will practice planning engaging lessons, assessing in fair and constructive ways, and developing effective classroom management approaches. Twenty (20) hours of observation in 5-12 public school setting. Required for Iowa Teaching Licensure.
Co-requisite: EDU 341 , EDU 342 , EDU 343 , EDU 344 , EDU 345 , or EDU 346 .
Prerequisite: EDU 101 , EDU 221 , and EDU 250 .
Instructor: Staff
EDU 341 - Research and Methods in the Teaching of Language Arts and Reading 2 credits (Spring)
This course complements the general methods course. Students will develop a practical theory of teaching English/language arts, one that synthesizes what they have learned about excellent, ethical teaching. Students will choose curriculum and design specific approaches for use in the middle or high school as they investigate the purposes for teaching English and theorize about how to best engage students in critical reading, writing, viewing, and speaking.
Co-requisite: EDU 340 .
Prerequisite: EDU 101 , EDU 221 , and EDU 250 ; and EDU 210 , EDU 211 , EDU 212 , EDU 213 , or EDU 215 .
Instructor: Jones
EDU 342 - Research and Methods in the Teaching and Learning of World Languages 2 credits (Spring)
This course complements the general methods course and provides an introduction to theories in and teaching of world languages. We will analyze theories of language acquisition and pedagogies that grow out of those theories, and evaluate theories of the “best” pedagogy for teaching a new language. We will discuss how to integrate the sometimes opposing theories of ethical and effective teaching practices. Students will have an opportunity to practice teach.
Co-requisite: EDU 340 .
Prerequisite: EDU 101 , EDU 221 , and EDU 250 ; and EDU 210 , EDU 211 , EDU 212 , EDU 213 , or EDU 215 .
Instructor: Jakubiak
EDU 343 - Research and Methods in Teaching and Learning in the Social Studies 2 credits (Spring)
This course complements the general methods course. Becoming a teacher of the social sciences requires students to think about what they are teaching, whom they are teaching, and how they will teach. The work in this course is structured to provide students with the tools to answer those questions and to teach effectively for student understanding.
Co-requisite: EDU 340 .
Prerequisite: EDU 101 , EDU 221 , and EDU 250 ; and EDU 210 , EDU 211 , EDU 212 , EDU 213 , or EDU 215 .
Instructor: Staff
EDU 344 - Research and Methods in Teaching and Learning in the Mathematics 2 credits (Spring)
This course is a study of strategies, techniques, materials, technology, and current research used in the teaching of mathematical concepts to middle and high school students. Students will review the standards involved in teaching mathematics at the secondary school level; develop an awareness of the professional resources, materials, technology and information available for teachers; prepare unit and lesson plans with related assessment procedures on a variety of topics; and acquire teaching experience.
Co-requisite: EDU 340 .
Prerequisite: EDU 101 , EDU 221 , and EDU 250 ; and EDU 210 , EDU 211 , EDU 212 , EDU 213 , or EDU 215 .
Instructor: P. Hutchison
EDU 345 - Research and Methods in Teaching and Learning in the Sciences 2 credits (Spring)
This course is a study of strategies, techniques, materials, technology, and current research used in the teaching of science concepts to middle and high school students. Students will review the standards involved in teaching sciences at the secondary school level; develop an awareness of the professional resources, materials, technology and information available for teachers; prepare unit and lesson plans with related assessment procedures on a variety of topics; and acquire teaching experience.
Co-requisite: EDU 340 .
Prerequisite: EDU 101 , EDU 221 , and EDU 250 ; and EDU 210 , EDU 211 , EDU 212 , EDU 213 , or EDU 215 .
Instructor: P. Hutchison
EDU 346 - Research and Methods in Teaching and Learning ESL/Bilingual Education 2 credits (Fall)
This course is a complement to the general methods course, EDU 340 . It will provide prospective ESL practitioners with the methodologies necessary to develop into successful and thoughtful teachers. We will examine past and current approaches, methods, and techniques for teaching ESL. Students will explore the political and cultural implications for teaching ESL in the United States K- 12 schools.
Co-requisite: EDU 340 .
Prerequisite: EDU 101 , EDU 221 , and EDU 250 ; and EDU 210 , EDU 211 , EDU 212 , EDU 213 , or EDU 215 .
Instructor: Jakubiak
EDU 460 - Seminar in Teaching the Young Adult 4 credits (Fall)
This course is a complement to the student teaching internship and is designed to provide students with a structured way of making connections between teaching theory and practice. We will conduct weekly seminar meetings aimed at two purposes: 1) to develop a problem-posing, relective approach to teaching challenges, and 2) to support the design, implementation and presentation of an action research project.
Co-requisite: EDU 469 .
Prerequisite: EDU 101 , EDU 221 , EDU 250 and EDU 340 ; and EDU 210 , EDU 211 , EDU 212 , EDU 213 , or EDU 215 ; and EDU 341 , EDU 342 , EDU 343 , EDU 344 , EDU 345 , or EDU 346 .
Instructor: Staff
EDU 469 - Student Teaching Internship in The Disciplines 8 credits (Fall)
This internship is the culminating experience for the student teaching program and provides a vehicle for systematic practice of our program goals and the program standards they encompass. This carefully mentored 14-week internship begins as soon as the school to which you are assigned begins its school year. Equivalent to a full-time job for the 14 weeks you are working in the schools, the internship commits you to over 600 hours of work.
Co-requisite: EDU 460 .
Prerequisite: EDU 101 , EDU 221 , EDU 250 and EDU 340 ; and EDU 210 , EDU 211 , EDU 212 , EDU 213 , EDU 215 , or EDU 217 ; and EDU 341 , EDU 342 , EDU 343 , EDU 344 , EDU 345 , or EDU 346 .
S/D/F only
Instructor: StaffEnglish
ENG 120 - Literary Analysis 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
An introduction to the methods and pleasures of literary analysis focusing on skills needed to practice close reading and explication of texts and emphasizing the rich complexities of literary language. Although individual sections vary in genres considered, all prepare students for further work in poetry and prose. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Staff
ENG 120-01 - Literary Analysis 4 credits (Fall)
This section of literary analysis will introduce students to critical reading, thinking, and writing in the context of literary works from a number of genres. We will begin by looking at critical and theoretical approaches to a single novel (E. Brontë’s Wuthering Heights) and then turn to short fiction, poetry, and drama (Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night), building on what we have learned while focusing on genre-specific vocabulary and strategies of interpretation. Graded assignments will include short writing assignments and three papers.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Jacobson
ENG 120-01 - Literary Analysis 4 credits (Spring)
In this course we’ll perform close readings of poems, stories, a novel, and a film, paying particular attention to the structural and stylistic conventions that constitute the texts we consume, the characters who inhabit them, and the pleasures that arise from them. This course will also provide a basic introduction to some of the more important concepts and methodologies of literary theory.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Andrews
ENG 120-02 - Literary Analysis 4.00 credits (Spring)
This course will introduce students to a variety of theoretical approaches to reading poetry, short stories, drama, and novels. Students will develop their analytic skills through classroom discussion and by writing critical essays. Readings will include a selection of lyric and narrative poetry, drama, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Don DeLillo’s White Noise, and a graphic novel.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Arner
ENG 120-02 & 04 - Literary Analysis 4 credits (Fall)
This course focuses on analytical writing and close reading of fiction, drama, poetry, and literary criticism, with an emphasis on further development of critical writing and research skills. We will read the work of authors and poets like Langston Hughes, Nella Larsen, and William Shakespeare. Through this investigation, students will gain more extensive experience with academic writing, a keener insight into literature, and an understanding of the way arts and culture can help us to understand change and social difference.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Moriah
ENG 120-03 - Literary Analysis 4 credits (Fall)
Adaptation & Multimedia Storytelling: As Angels in America declares about them party costumes, “it’s all been done before.” Yet when a story or idea moves from genre to genre, form to form, audience to audience, place to place, time to time, it transforms into something new. This course will examine adaptation processes and examples, including theatre, poetry, fiction, dance, music, film, and digital storytelling. In addition to writing essays and short response posts, students will create their own adaptations inspired by materials from the College Archives and drawing upon digital and non-digital methods.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Shook
ENG 120-03 - Literary Analysis 4 credits (Spring)
This course focuses on analytical writing and close reading of fiction, drama, poetry, and literary criticism, with an emphasis on further development of critical writing and research skills. We will read the work of authors and poets like Langston Hughes, Nella Larsen, and William Shakespeare. Through this investigation, students will gain more extensive experience with academic writing, a keener insight into literature, and an understanding of the way arts and culture can help us to understand change and social difference.
Prerequisite: None
Instructor: Moriah
ENG 120-04 - Literary Analysis 4 credits (Spring)
This section of literary analysis will introduce students to critical reading, thinking, and writing in the context of literary works from a number of genres. We will begin by looking at critical and theoretical approaches to a single novel (E. Brontë’s Wuthering Heights) and then turn to short fiction, poetry, and drama (Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night), building on what we have learned while focusing on genre-specific vocabulary and strategies of interpretation. Graded assignments will include short writing assignments and three papers.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: C. Jacobson
ENG 121 - Introduction to Shakespeare 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
A close study of representative plays from each period of Shakespeare’s career, including comedies, histories, tragedies, and romances. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Simpson
ENG 121-01 - Introduction to Shakespeare 4 credits (Spring)
This course will examine a selection of Shakespeare’s work that spans his career. Applying key terms and concepts for the study of literature, we will read representative plays and consider some of the most important poems. Part of our focus will be on understanding the plays in their performative contexts, reading the texts very closely and imagining performance possibilities. Together, we will explore how original audiences may have responded to Shakespeare’s work, as well as how the poems and plays have taken hold of our contemporary imagination.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Garrison
ENG 121-01 & 02 - Introduction to Shakespeare 4 credits (Fall)
This course will examine a selection of Shakespeare’s work that spans his career. Applying key terms and concepts for the study of literature, we will read representative plays and consider some of the most important poems. Part of our focus will be on understanding the plays in their performative contexts, reading the texts very closely and imagining performance possibilities. Together, we will explore how original audiences may have responded to Shakespeare’s work, as well as how the poems and plays have taken hold of our contemporary imagination.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Garrison
ENG 204 - The Craft of Argument 4 credits (Spring)
Advanced course in argumentative or analytical writing with particular attention to style.
Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Arner
ENG 205 - The Craft of Fiction 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
Instruction in the techniques and process of fiction writing, with emphasis on the short story. Readings may include published short stories and essays on the art of fiction. Students may also be asked to write in forms related to fiction (journal, autobiography, prose poem).
Prerequisite: ENG 120 or ENG 121 .
Instructor: Smith, Bakopoulos
ENG 206 - The Craft of Poetry 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
Instruction in the techniques and process of verse writing. Readings may include published poems and essays on the art of poetry.
Prerequisite: ENG 120 or ENG 121 .
Instructor: Barlow, Savarese
ENG 207 - Craft of Creative Nonfiction 4 credits (Spring)
In this course, we will acquaint ourselves with the genre of creative nonfiction, sampling a range of the myriad possibilities it presents: the personal essay, the political essay, nature writing, memoir, travel writing, literary journalism, biographical profile. We will read exemplary models and try our hands at each.
Prerequisite: ENG 205 or ENG 206
Instructor: Savarese
ENG 210 - Studies in Genre 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Intensive study of a particular genre. May include the study of lyric, epic, or narrative poetry; or novel, graphic novel, short story or drama. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: ENG 120 or ENG 121 for majors; or for non-majors, ENG 120 or ENG 121 or any course in the study of literature in another language department.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Staff
ENG 210-01 - Studies in Genre 4 credits (Fall)
The Graphic Novel. This course will use various modes of literary theory –psychoanalysis, feminism, queer theory critical race theory, disability studies – to read a selection of graphic novels. We’ll consider how these tools open up ways of reading text and image in this genre. The course will begin with memoirs: Art Spiegelman’s Maus and Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home. We will then examine the representation of non-normative bodies in superhero books. The final few weeks of the course will be dedicated to serious theoretical examination of Alan Moore’s Watchmen. Along with writing traditional academic essays, students will be able to present their critical analysis in the form of a digital graphic essay.
Prerequisite: ENG 120 or ENG 121 for majors; or for non-majors, ENG 120 or ENG 121 or any course in the study of literature in another language department.
Instructor: Arner
ENG 215 - Reading and Writing Youth and Youth Cultures 4 credits (Spring)
See EDU 215 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Jones
ENG 223 - The Tradition of English Literature I 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Study of English literature from Old English to the early 17th century; may include such works as Beowulf, Canterbury Tales, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, The Faerie Queene, and Paradise Lost. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: ENG 120 or ENG 121 for majors; for non-majors, ENG 120 or ENG 121 or any course in the study of literature in another language department.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Arner
ENG 223-01 - The Tradition of English Lit I 4 credits (Fall)
This course will survey English literature written during the medieval and early modern periods, grounding that literature in the historical, political, social, and linguistic contexts from which it emerged. We will explore how literature reflected – and also shaped – cultural debates regarding such diverse issues as chivalry, nationalism, scientific discovery, gender, and sexuality. We will read drama, prose, and poetry from authors with whom students may already be familiar (e.g., Chaucer, Shakespeare) and from lesser-known writers whose work gives us unique insight into English literary history.
Prerequisite: ENG 120 or ENG 121 for majors; for non-majors, ENG 120 or ENG 121 , or any course in the study of literature in another language department.
Instructor: Garrison
ENG 224 - The Tradition of English Literature II 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Study of English literature from the Restoration through the Victorians; may include such authors as Behn, Defoe, Swift, Wordsworth, Shelley, Austen, George Eliot, and Dickens. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: ENG 120 or ENG 121 for majors; for non-majors, ENG 120 or ENG 121 or any course in the study of literature in another language department.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Simpson
ENG 224-01 - The Tradition of English Lit II 4 credits (Spring)
This course will offer a grounding in both major and representative British works of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Some of the threads that we will track throughout the semester will include sexuality, national identity, and the writers’ relationship to the natural world. Texts may include poetry by Swift, Wordsworth, and Robert Browning as well works of fiction such as Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
Prerequisite: ENG 120 or ENG 121 for majors; for non-majors, ENG 120 or ENG 121 or any course in the study of literature in another language department.
Instructor: C. Jacobson
ENG 225 - Introduction to Postcolonial Literatures 4 credits (Fall)
An introduction to postcolonial literatures and theory from the Caribbean, Africa, South Asia, and the Pacific. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: ENG 120 or ENG 121 for majors; for non-majors, ENG 120 or ENG 121 or any course in the study of literature in another language department.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Kapila
ENG 226 - The Tradition of English Literature III 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Study of English literature of the 20th century; may include such authors as Joyce, Woolf, Beckett, Orwell, Eliot, Winterson, Kureishi, and Walcott. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: ENG 120 or ENG 121 for majors; for non-majors, ENG 120 or ENG 121 or any course in the study of literature in another language department.
Instructor: Kapila, Simpson
ENG 227 - American Literary Traditions I 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Study of American literature from Columbus to 1830; may include such authors as Columbus, Ralegh, Bradstreet, Rowlandson, Franklin, Rowson, Irving, Bryant, and Cooper. Features works from a variety of genres, including Native American myths, travel and promotional narratives, journals, poetry, fiction, nonfiction prose, and maps. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: ENG 120 or ENG 121 for majors; for non-majors, ENG 120 or ENG 121 or any course in the study of literature in another language department.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Andrews
ENG 227-01 - American Literary Traditions I 4 credits (Fall)
From Captivity to Captivation: In this course, the question of a distinctly American literature is explored from the perspective of the captivity narrative that has its origins in the struggle between Christians and Muslims in the Mediterranean world of the 16th and 17th centuries. Early in the semester we focus on Lydia Maria Child’s Hobomok in order to analyze the aesthetic techniques that turn the violence of seventeenth century transatlantic captivity into the captivating pleasures of nineteenth century American historical romances. The middle portion of the course focuses on two novels of the early Republic: Charles Brockden Brown’s Arthur Mervyn and Royall Tyler’s The Algerine Captive. Discussion of the transatlantic trade in slaves and its impact on republican virtue and textual self-fashioning will be supplemented by selections from Olaudah Equiano, Phillis Wheatley, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, Benjamin Franklin, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. The course will conclude with a discussion of Emerson’s “The American Scholar,” in which he urges liberation from “our long apprenticeship to the learning of other lands.” Readings from Washington Irving, Edgar Allan Poe, Margaret Fuller, Henry David Thoreau, and Walt Whitman will provide the basis for discussing how much has been done and what is left to do as “American” literature continues to acknowledge its multicultural and transnational relations in its ongoing attempt to confront the “infidelism” that Whitman insisted imprisons too many of us. Grade to be determined by class discussion, collaborative work with peers, and three formal writing assignments.
Prerequisite: ENG 120 or ENG 121 for majors; for non-majors, ENG 120 or ENG 121 or any course in the study of literature in another language department.
Instructor: Andrews
ENG 228 - American Literary Traditions II 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Study of American literature from 1830 to 1893; may include such authors as Emerson, Melville, Whitman, Dickinson, Twain, James, Chopin, Chesnutt, and Zitkala-Sa. Features works from a variety of genres including fiction, poetry, nonfiction prose, and drama. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: ENG 120 or ENG 121 for majors; for non-majors, ENG 120 or ENG 121 or any course in the study of literature in another language department.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Andrews, Benjamin
ENG 228-01 - American Literary Traditions II 4 credits (Spring)
Reconstructing Nature’s Nation: The “Salve” of Race. This course will explore the interplay of literature, law, environment and identity during the period of 1865-1925, as the United States reconstructs itself out of and around the trauma of the Civil War and the massive influx of immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. We will start by reading the Civil War poetry of Herman Melville, Walt Whitman, and Emily Dickinson, and we will then proceed to explore the ways in which the Civil War Amendments, Supreme Court cases including Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), and legislative enactments such as the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) and the Johnson-Reed Immigration Act (1924), helped shape the plots and inform the characterizations in novels by Albion Tourgee (A Fool’s Errand, 1879), Henry James (The Bostonians, 1886), Mark Twain (Pudd’nhead Wilson, 1894), Pauline Hopkins (Of One Blood: Or, the Hidden Self, 1903), and Willa Cather (The Professor’s House, 1925). Early 20th century magazine pieces by writers such as John Muir, Sui Sin Far, Zitkala-Sa, Harriet Monroe, Madison Grant, and Franklin Lane will enable us to discuss the poetics of “Americanization” in relation to the discourses of environmental preservation and eugenics. Grades will be based on class discussion, collaborative presentations, several short responses and two medium-length papers.
Prerequisite: ENG 120 or ENG 120 for majors; for non-majors, ENG 120 or ENG 121 , or any course in the study of literature in another language department.
Instructor: Andrews
ENG 229 - The Tradition of African American Literature 4 credits (Fall)
The emergence and growth of African American literature from slavery to the present. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: ENG 120 or ENG 121 for majors; for non-majors, ENG 120 or ENG 121 or any course in the study of literature in another language department.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Benjamin
ENG 229-01 - The Tradition of African American Literature 4 credits (Fall)
In this course we will analyze African American literature from the long nineteenth century. Our reading list will include work by figures like Harriet Jacobs and Frederick Douglass as well as less frequently considered writers like Nancy Prince and John Marrant. Our investigation will encompass a consideration of non-canonical texts so that we can develop a richer sense of African American literary culture during the period. Thus, we will take seriously the suggestion of scholar Eric Gardner that we must look in “unexpected places” to fully understand African American literary history. Students will also engage with a wide range of scholarly criticism.
Prerequisite: ENG 120 or ENG 121 for majors; for non-majors, ENG 120 or ENG 121 or any course in the study of literature in another language department.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Moriah
ENG 230 - English Historical Linguistics 4 credits (Spring)
Study of the history of the English language through examination of phonological, grammatical, and semantic changes in the language from Old English to Middle English to Modern English with attention to “external” history.
Prerequisite: ENG 120 or ENG 121 for majors; for non-majors, ENG 120 or ENG 121 or any course in the study of literature in another language department.
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Arner
ENG 231 - American Literary Traditions III 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Study of American literature from 1893 to today; may include such authors as Crane, Eliot, Faulkner, Hurston, Plath, DeLillo, and Morrison. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: ENG 120 or ENG 121 for majors; for non-majors, ENG 120 or ENG 121 or any course in the study of literature in another language department.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Staff
ENG 232 - Ethnic American Literatures 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Study of the major traditions of American ethnic literatures. Features works from a variety of genres including fiction, poetry, nonfiction prose, and drama. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: ENG 120 or ENG 121 for majors; for non-majors, ENG 120 orENG 121 or any course in the study of literature in another language department.
Instructor: Phan
ENG 232-01 - Traditions of Ethnic American Literature 4 credits (Spring)
This survey course examines how contemporary ethnic American writing negotiates the contradictions, ambiguities and anxieties embedded in questions of national identity at the intersection of race and citizenship. We will examine works by Maxine Hong Kingston, Edwidge Danticat, Louise Erdrich, Anna Deavere Smith, Claudia Rankine, and Eduardo C. Corral, amongst others. Reading a wide selection of fiction, poetry, essays, and a graphic memoir within and against their specific cultural and historical contexts, we will explore how these works use literary form and language as a way to articulate alternative histories of the nation, national identity, and belonging, and to envision new democratic futures. As a survey, the objectives of this course are to give students an introduction to an array of literature engaged with issues of race and ethnicity in the U.S. and beyond; to help students develop a deeper understanding of the evolving issues involved in defining the American canon and in the national discourses on race and ethnicity; and to encourage the reading of literature with a fine critical understanding and aesthetic appreciation.
Prerequisite: ENG 120 or ENG 121 for majors; for non-majors, ENG 120 or ENG 121 or any course in the study of literature in another language.
Instructor: Phan
ENG 273 - Feminism and Difference 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Study of critical debates in global, transnational and Postcolonial feminisms. This introductory course will include literary, historical, and theoretical texts which study the progress of feminism in the global south in conjunction with but also often in opposition to the Euro-American world. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: ENG 120 or ENG 121 for majors; for non-majors, ENG 120 , ENG 121 , GWS 111 or a course in the study of literature in another language department.
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Kapila
ENG 274 - Sex, Gender, and Critical Theory 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Study of the critical debates in the construction of gender and sexuality, and how these debates have shaped, and been shaped by contemporary feminist and queer theory. This course will familiarize students with a range of critical theories that have transformed the study of sexuality and gender in recent decades-psychoanalysis, structuralism, post-structuralism, deconstruction and postmodernism. We will read key figures in theories of sex and gender, including Judith Butler, Michel Foucault, and Gayle Rubin.
Prerequisite: ENG 120 or ENG 121 for majors; for non-majors, ENG 120 , ENG 121 , GWS 111 or any course in the study of literature in another language department.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Staff
ENG 290 - Introduction to Literary Theory 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Survey of Critical debates in history of literary theory and criticism from Plato to Butler. For purposes of practical application, readings may also include selected fiction, poetry, and drama. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: ENG 120 or ENG 121 for majors; for non-majors, ENG 120 or ENG 121 or any course in the study of literature in another language department.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Staff
ENG 295-01 - Special Topic: Lighting the Page: Digital Methods in Literary Studies 4 credits (Spring)
This course will introduce students to methods used in the digital humanities, with a special emphasis on applications to literary studies. Readings will include literary texts as well as recent contributions to criticism and theory in digital humanities. The three major sections of the course will involve 1) engaging the theory and practice of electronic literature, then writing a work of e-lit; 2) creating a group web project about geography and race in Washington, D.C. based on Edward P. Jones’s Lost in the City, and 3) engaging in computational text analysis of literary works and student writing, including introductory exercises in Python programming. No technical skills are required, but willingness to gain them is fundamental to the course.
Prerequisite: ENG 120 or ENG 121 .
Instructor: Simpson
ENG 295-02 - Special Topic: Contemporary Irish Fiction 1 credits (Spring)
The course in contemporary Irish fiction will take an overview of current Irish writing with a general focus on global anxieties around migration and identity. As a country, which has traditionally seen so many of its people emigrating to other parts of the world, Ireland has, through its vibrant contemporary literature, begun to reflect wider perspectives on the key issues of belonging and refuge. In a series of seminars, which allow for open discussion on attitudes towards home and family, students will have the opportunity examine a shifting cultural awareness in Irish writing, taking a close look at three women writers - Edna O’Brien, Anne Enright, Molly McCloskey - whose work reflects the changing understanding of the times we live in. Students will create their own story, essay, or series of poems, along similar theses as a final project in the course.
Prerequisite: ENG 205 or ENG 206 .
Note: Dates: April 2 to April 16. Short course deadlines apply. S/D/F only.
Instructor: Hamilton
ENG 295-02 - Special Topic: Literary Tourism 2 credits (Fall)
A special topic course on reading and writing as a kind of literary tourism, presented in partnership with the International Writing Program, featuring award-winning Kenya novelist Yvonne Adhiamo Owuor.
Prerequisite: ENG 205 or ENG 206 ; waivers my be given to students with some previous coursework in literature. See Professor Dean Bakopoulos to request a waiver.
S/D/F only.
Instructor: Owuo
ENG 295-03 - Special Topic: Citizen Maxine Waters: Selling the Shadow and the Vulnerabilities of Black Women 1 credits (Spring)
Since the inauguration of Donald Trump, Congresswoman Maxine Waters has emerged as the embodiment of popular resistance to Trump’s policies and persona. More than a meme, Waters represents much of what the popular media likes to believe about Black women: that they are impenetrable, outspoken, and fearless. The truth is, Black women’s emotional realities are much more complex. This class mines Claudia Rankine’s Citizen: An American Lyric to identify the literary and cultural practices Black women employ to combat invisibility, hypervisibility, and misrecognition.
Prerequisite: ENG 120 or GWS 111 .
Instructor: Benjamin
ENG 303 - Chaucer 4 credits (Spring)
Study of Chaucer’s poetry in Middle English. Option of doing some reading in Latin, Italian, or French. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: ENG 223 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Arner
ENG 310 - Studies in Shakespeare 4 credits (Fall)
An intensive study of three or four plays from various approaches, such as sources, imagery, and critical and theatrical traditions. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: ENG 121 . ENG 223 and ENG 224 strongly recommended.
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Lee
ENG 314 - Milton 4 credits (Fall)
Intensive study of Milton’s poetry and selected prose with emphasis on Paradise Lost, on Milton’s place in the epic tradition, and on Milton’s reputation in English poetry. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: ENG 223 or ENG 273 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Lee
ENG 314-01 - Milton 4 credits (Spring)
In this course, we will study the poetry and prose of John Milton, with particular focus on one of the most famous works in the English language: Paradise Lost. We will trace how Milton’s epic poem mixes elements of classical Greco-Roman mythology and the Christian tradition to tell the story of Satan’s rebellion and the Fall. Examining the wider array of the poet’s writing, we will also discuss how Milton envisioned his career from his earliest days in college.
Prerequisite: ENG 223 or ENG 273 .
Instructor: Garrison
ENG 316 - Studies in English Renaissance Literature 4 credits (Spring)
An intensive study of a group of related authors, a mode, or a genre from the period 1500–1600. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: ENG 223 or ENG 273 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Lee
ENG 323 - Studies in English Literature: 1660–1798 4 credits (Spring)
Intensive study of Restoration and 18th-century literature with a focus on specific themes and genres. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: ENG 223 , ENG 224 , ENG 225 , ENG 227 , or ENG 228 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Lobban-Viravong, Simpson
ENG 325 - Studies in Ethnic American Literatures 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Intensive study of important authors, movements, or trends in American ethnic literatures. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: ENG 227 , ENG 228 , ENG 229 , ENG 231 , ENG 232 , or ENG 273 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Phan
ENG 325-01 - Studies in Ethnic American Literatures 4 credits (Spring)
“It is normally supposed that something always gets lost in translation; I cling, obstinately, to the notion that something can always be gained,” writes the novelist Salman Rushdie. Starting with Rushdie’s assertion, this seminar examines the focus on translation in so many English-language literary works by contemporary ethnic American writers and asks why translation between cultures, languages, and dialects matters for understanding the heritage of the United States. Engaging in contemporary debates over language diversity, immigration, and globalization, we will attempt to put critical race theory into conversation with translation theory, as both offer a rich critical vocabulary for thinking about questions of difference, origins, authenticity, betrayal, and subversion. We will read novels, autobiographies, essays, and poetry by writers such as Jhumpa Lahiri, Maxine Hong Kingston, Richard Rodriguez, Gloria Anzuldua, Aleksandr Hemon, Leslie Marmon Silko, Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Eduardo C. Corral, amongst others. For the final project, students will have the option of writing a longer research paper related to the course theme or producing their own translation of a literary work, accompanied by a critical introduction.
Prerequisite: ENG 227 , ENG 228 , ENG 229 , ENG 231 , ENG 232 , or ENG 273 .
Instructor: Phan
ENG 326 - Studies in American Poetry I 4 credits (Fall)
Intensive study of important poets, movements, or trends in 19th-century American poetry. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: ENG 227 , ENG 228 , ENG 229 , ENG 231 , ENG 232 , or ENG 273 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Andrews, Savarese
ENG 327 - The Romantics 4 credits (Fall)
Study of major figures in English literature from 1798 to 1830, with attention to Romantic theories of poetry. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: ENG 223 ,ENG 224 , ENG 225 , ENG 227 , or ENG 228 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Simpson
ENG 327-01 - The Romantics 4 credits (Fall)
Electric Romanticism: The Technologies of the Romantic Period and of Romantic Studies. This course will involve a two-pronged approach to the relationship between British Romanticism and technology. On the one hand, we will study texts of the Romantic period that address technological innovation themselves; these texts will include, for example, a unit placing Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in the context of Romantic-era science and technology. We will also address other scientific innovations at the time, such as the discovery of oxygen, the development of the difference engine, and early evolutionary theory. On the other hand, we will examine and use contemporary technologies that enable new ways of studying Romantic texts, from online editions and databases to new tools for analyzing individual texts and large corpuses of texts. We will weave these threads together with critical and theoretical readings about Romantic and present-day technologies, and students will have the option to write a conventional term paper or to develop a digital project based on the course readings.
Prerequisite: ENG 223 , ENG 224 , ENG 225 , ENG 227 , or ENG 228 .
Instructor: Simpson
ENG 328 - Studies in American Poetry II 4 credits (Fall)
Intensive study of important poets, movements, or trends in 20th-century American poetry. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: ENG 227 , ENG 228 , ENG 229 , ENG 231 , ENG 232 , or ENG 273 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Andrews, Savarese
ENG 328-01 - Studies in American Poetry II 4 credits (Fall)
Beat, Black, and (Sometimes) Blue: Poetry of the ‘50s and ‘60s from San Francisco, Black Mountain, and the Black Arts Movement. In this course we will explore poetry that breaks out of what Robert Bly called “the new critical jail,” as well as poetry that resists what Haki Madhubuti called the “protective custody” of cultural institutions dominated by white wardens and masters. Some members of this generation went from “liking Ike” to hiking out, as far out as words and rucksacks could take them, while others, such as Amiri Baraka, hoped to “clean out the world for virtue and love” by writing “poems that kill.” Our discussions of such raptures and ruptures will begin with an analysis of two seminal anthologies, both published in 1960-the 3rd edition of Understanding Poetry, edited by Cleanth Brooks and Robert Penn Warren; and The New American Poetry, 1945-1960, edited by Donald Allen. Many of the poets listed in Allen’s anthology-Ginsberg, Snyder, Kerouac, Levertov, Olson, Creeley, Jones (Baraka), O’Hara, and Ashbery, to name a few-are now safely ensconced in the American literary canon; none were included in Understanding Poetry. As a way of better understanding this schism, we will apply a historicist approach to New Critical assumptions about the writer, the reader, and the “public” nature of poetry and compare those assumptions with the theory and practice propounded by the writers in New American Poetry. By the ‘60s, many of these poets were actively engaged in merging poetics with politics, as they acted out the affirmations of language, place, and civil rights within an often bewildering juxtaposition of “American” spaces stretching from Piute Creek to the moon and back and from Newark to Viet Nam. Readings to include works from the writers mentioned, as well as memoirs by Joyce Johnson, Diane di Prima, and Amiri Baraka. Grade to be determined by class discussion/facilitation, two medium-length papers and a final research project.
Prerequisite: For majors any 200-level English course; for non-majors, any 200-level or higher course in the study of literature in another language major.
Instructor: Andrews
ENG 329 - Studies in African American Literature 4 credits
Intensive study of an African American literary genre, movement, author, or a group of related authors. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: ENG 225 , ENG 227 , ENG 228 , ENG 229 , ENG 231 , ENG 232 , or ENG 273 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Benjamin
ENG 329-01 - Studies in African American Literature 4 credits (Spring)
Sound Studies & African American Literature. This course focuses on the relationship between Sound Studies and African American literature. Sound Studies methodologies provide a way to chip away at privileged discourses of knowledge. Indeed, Josh Kun argues that “studying sound helps us put an ear to ‘the audio-racial imagination,’ which refers to the aurality of racial meanings, and to sound’s role in systems and institutions of racialization and racial formation within and across the borders of the United States.” Following Kun, we will investigate various recourses to sound throughout the African American literary tradition. We will read the work of literary figures like Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. Du Bois, Zora Neale Hurston and Ann Petry alongside critics like Amiri Baraka, Daphne Brooks, Fred Moten, and Alexander Weheliye. Traversing the sonic color line, we will develop new understandings of black aesthetics, literature, and politics.
Prerequisite: ENG 225 , ENG 227 , ENG 228 , ENG 229 , ENG 231 , ENG 232 , or ENG 273 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Moriah
ENG 330 - Studies in American Prose I 4 credits (Fall)
Intensive study of important writers, movements, or trends in 19th-century American prose. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: ENG 227 , ENG 228 , ENG 229 , ENG 231 , ENG 232 , or ENG 273 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Andrews, Savarese
ENG 331 - Studies in American Prose II 4 credits (Spring)
Intensive study of important writers, movements, or trends in 20th-century American prose. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: ENG 227 , ENG 228 , ENG 229 , ENG 231 , ENG 232 , or ENG 273 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Staff
ENG 331-01 - Studies in American Prose II 4 credits (Spring)
Neuroliterature. In a recent article in N+1, the critic Marco Roth describes the emergence of a new kind of literary work, the “neuronovel,” in which the protagonist sports an atypical brain. Whether Tourette syndrome or autism or Capgras syndrome or facial agnosia or paranoid schizophrenia, this difference, says Roth, offers the novelist an opportunity to reflect on the impact of scientific knowledge on the culture at large. Roth detects a shift from mind to brain in the province least likely to accede to a mechanistic understanding of human existence: namely fiction. In this course we will expand Roth’s term to include both memoir and poetry, and we will bring a disability studies perspective to the questions at hand. Possible literary texts include The Echo Maker; Motherless Brooklyn; The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime; Lowboy; Twitch and Shout; Songs of a Gorilla Nation; and How Can I Talk If My Lips Don’t Move?
Prerequisite: ENG 227 , ENG 228 , ENG 229 , ENG 231 , ENG 232 , or ENG 273 .
Instructor: Savarese
ENG 331-01 - Studies in American Prose II 4 credits (Fall)
Cross-listed as: GWS 331-01 . A study of contemporary memoirs by feminist writers exploring gender, identity, sexuality, race, and culture. In addition to critically analyzing the memoir as a literary form, students will examine how feminist writers have used memoir to describe both personal and political experiences, to theorize from these experiences, and to develop concepts of feminist subjectivity. Readings will include a diverse range of memoirs such as Hunger by Roxane Gay, Forget Sorrow: An Ancestral Tale by Bell Yang, and The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson, as well as critical essays on memoir, graphic memoir, autobiography, and feminist/queer theory.
Prerequisite: ENG 227 , ENG 228 , ENG 229 , ENG 231 , ENG 232 , or ENG 273 .
Instructor: Nutting
ENG 332 - The Victorians 4 credits (Fall)
Study of major British writers from 1830 to 1900, with emphasis on distinctive approaches to common artistic, intellectual, and social problems. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.below.
Prerequisite: ENG 223 , ENG 224 , ENG 225 , ENG 227 , or ENG 228 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Jacobson, Simpson
ENG 337 - The British Novel I 4 credits (Spring)
Historical development of the British novel, formal evolution, methods of publication, and the relation of novels to their cultures. Through the early Dickens (e.g., Defoe, Richardson, Fielding, Sterne, Jane Austen, Thackeray). For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: ENG 223 , ENG 224 , ENG 225 , ENG 226 , or ENG 273 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Staff
ENG 338 - The British Novel II 4 credits (Spring)
Historical development of the British novel, formal evolution, methods of publication, and the relation of novels to their cultures. From Dickens to the present (e.g., George Eliot, Hardy, Conrad, Lawrence, Forster, Virginia Woolf). For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: ENG 223 , ENG 224 , ENG 225 , ENG 226 , or ENG 273 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Staff
ENG 345 - Studies in Modern Poetry 4 credits (Fall)
Intensive study of important modern poets. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: ENG 224 , ENG 225 , ENG 226 , ENG 227 , ENG 228 , ENG 229 , ENG 231 , ENG 232 , or ENG 273 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Savarese
ENG 346 - Studies in Modern Prose 4 credits (Fall)
Intensive study of important modern fiction. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: ENG 224 , ENG 225 , ENG 226 , ENG 227 , ENG 228 , ENG 229 , ENG 231 , ENG 232 , or ENG 273 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Simpson
ENG 349 - Medieval Literature 4 credits (Fall)
Cross-listed as: GLS 349 . Study of medieval European literary forms (lyric, epic, romance, allegory, and dream vision) through analysis of major works such as Beowulf, Chretien de Troyes’ poems, Marie de France’s Lais, The Romance of the Rose, The Divine Comedy, The Decameron, Piers Plowman, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, The Book of the City of Ladies, and Malory’s prose. Option of doing some reading in Latin, Italian, or French. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: ENG 223 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Arner
ENG 360 - Seminar in Postcolonial Literature 4 credits (Spring)
An intensive study of important writers, movements, or theoretical concepts in postcolonial literature written in English. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: ENG 224 , ENG 225 , ENG 226 , or ENG 229 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Kapila
ENG 360-01 - Seminar in Postcolonial Literature 4 credits (Spring)
Globalization and the Novel: This course explores the transformation in the English novel in the era of globalization, that is, post-1990.The English domestic novel gave us a vocabulary of private and public, inside/outside, home and abroad. How do these concepts change as economic and political events bring different parts of the world closer? What new subjects, themes, plots, and ideologies does fiction create in a world preoccupied by migrants, global cities, fears of terrorism, and impending eco-disasters? Writers we will read include Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Monica Ali, Amitav Ghosh, Mohsin Hamid, Salman Rushdie, and Zadie Smith.
Prerequisite: ENG 224 , ENG 225 , ENG 226 , or ENG 229 .
Instructor: Kapila
ENG 385 - Writing Seminar: Fiction 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Advanced workshop for students with a strong background in fiction writing.
Prerequisite: ENG 205 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Smith, Bakopoulos
ENG 386 - Writing Seminar: Poetry 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Advanced workshop for students with a strong background in verse writing.
Prerequisite: ENG 206 .
Instructor: Barlow, Savarese
ENG 390 - Literary Theory 4 credits (Spring)
An intensive introduction to the major schools of critical and literary theory. Readings likely to include foundational texts in formalism, Marxism, feminism, psychoanalysis, historicism, poststructuralism, and postcolonialism. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: Any 200-level English course.
Instructor: Andrews, Kapila
ENG 395-01 - Advanced Special Topic: Screenwriting 4 credits (Spring)
A seminar on the conception, writing, and production of low-budget, place-based independent films. Students will study acclaimed independent films while writing their own screenplays. In addition, students will participate in the pre-production discussions of a screenplay set in contemporary Grinnell, written by the course professors, and directed by visiting artist Julian Goldberger.
Prerequisite: ENG 205 , ENG 206 , or ENG 207 .
Instructor: Bakopoulos
ENG 395-01 - Special Topic: Screenwriting 4 credits (Fall)
A seminar on the conception, writing, and production of low-budget, place-based independent films. Students will study acclaimed independent films while writing their own screenplays. In addition, students will participate in the pre-production discussions of a screenplay set in contemporary Grinnell, written by the course professors, and directed by visiting artist Julian Goldberger.
Prerequisite: ENG 205 , ENG 206 , or ENG 207 .
Instructor: Bakopoulos, Nutting
FRN 350-01 - Advanced Topics in Literature & Civilization 4 credits (Spring)
Representing the Body in Contemporary Literature and Film. Conducted in French. Examines representations of the body in novels and films from diverse areas of the French-speaking world. Explores topics such as sexuality, gender roles, inter-generational relations, migration, illness, aging, love, war, masculinity and femininity, and cultural constructions of the body. Works studied may include Vénus noire, Une affaire de femmes, Amour, Chaos, Moolaadé, Les intouchables, Satin rouge, Ce pays dont je meurs, Les muscles, and La femme sans tête.
Prerequisite: FRN 312 or FRN 313 .
Instructor: IrelandEnvironmental Studies
ENV 120 - Environmental Challenges and Responses 1 credits (Fall)
This course provides a substantive forum for discussions of current environmental issues among small groups of students and faculty. Content varies. All students meet biweekly to hear an invited speaker present on a relevant topic. During intervening weeks students meet in small groups with two faculty members to discuss the previous week’s seminar and related readings. May be repeated for credit.
Prerequisite: Second-semester standing.
S/D/F only
Instructor: Staff
ENV 125 - Introduction to Earth Systems Science with Lab 4 credits (Fall)
Cross-listed as: SCI 125 . An introductory geology course that demonstrates that Earth systems (the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and geosphere) are dynamically linked by internal and external physical, chemical, and biological processes. Using process-response models, we examine the structure and evolution of the Earth, how the rock record is used to decipher Earth’s past and predict its future, and societal issues centered on the environment, land use, resources (water, mineral, and energy), and natural hazards. Three lectures and one laboratory each week.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Graham
ENV 145 - Nations and the Global Environment 4 credits (Fall)
Global environmental issues discussed from the perspective of how these problems relate to each student. Emphasis on the geological, biological, and human history of Earth: trends in global climate (including the greenhouse effect and ozone depletion), species diversity (including episodes of mass extinction), human demography, international energy policies, global distribution of resources (including famine, lifeboat “ethics,” and politics of “north vs. south”). Discussion of sustainable development of tropical forest, savanna, and marine ecosystems. Readings from texts and current literature.
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Campbell
ENV 154 - Natural Hazards and Disasters 4 credits (Spring)
Cross-listed as: GDS 154 . Natural hazards arise from normal Earth processes. But natural disasters result from the inability of humans to anticipate, and plan for, inevitable hazardous events. Through lectures, seminars, and lab exercises, we will: examine the Earth processes that generate hazardous events; analyze the historical and geological record of past disasters; consider the political, economic, and social factors contributing to the severity of natural disasters; explore how natural catastrophes have influenced human history, art, and religion; and examine international disparities in vulnerability.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Staff
ENV 240 - Environmental Chemistry 4 credits (Spring)
See CHM 240 .
ENV 251 - Water, Development and the Environment 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
See GDS 251 .
Note: Not offered every year.
ENV 261 - Climate Change, Development and the Environment 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
See GDS 261 .
Note: Not offered every year.
ENV 495 - Senior Seminar 4 credits (Spring)
An interdisciplinary senior seminar for students completing the concentration in Environmental Studies. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: Open to Junior and Senior Environmental Studies Concentrators.
Instructor: Staff
ENV 495-01 - Senior Seminar: Food, Energy, Water Nexus 4 credits (Fall)
Food, energy, and water systems (FEWs) are intimately interconnected. In this seminar, we will explore problems related to building sustainable and resilient FEWs within the context of a nexus framework. Topics will include: water scarcity and water resource allocation, the impacts of fuel extraction (e.g., “fracking”) and agriculture on water quality (e.g., eutrophication), food security and obesity, and the impacts of climate change on the FEWs nexus. The seminar emphasizes close reading of contemporary peer-reviewed literature and includes a major term-writing project.
Prerequisite: Open to Junior and Senior Environmental Studies Concentrators.
Instructor: A. GrahamEuropean Studies
ESC 297 - Guided Reading Project 2 credits (Fall or Spring)
To be taken in the semester preceding that in which the student will take the 397 course, this project is designed as preparation for Senior Independent Study. The student may request to work with any instructor currently teaching in the program who will also be teaching on the Grinnell campus during the following semester.
Prerequisite: Second semester of first-year standing.
Instructor: Staff
ESC 397 - Senior Independent Study 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
The subject must be arranged with a faculty adviser (preferably the instructor of the Guided Reading Project 297, above) before the end of the semester preceding the independent study. The study should result in either a substantial essay (about 25–30 pages) or a creative accomplishment such as a photographic essay, film, dramatic production, paintings, etc. of similar magnitude. The latter will require some written explication as well. Occasional colloquia consisting of all students and faculty engaged in these projects will be held to exchange ideas and methods.
Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
Instructor: StaffFilm and Media Courses
HUM 185 - Film Analysis, Theory & Criticism 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
This writing-intensive course examines foundational concepts and methodologies in Cinema Studies, introducing students to a number of theoretical approaches central to the study of film, including semiotics, psychoanalysis, and Cultural Studies. Our focus is not film appreciation but rather the analysis of film as a language and “reading” film texts for their meanings. Since film is a system of representation, the study of gender, sexuality, race and class will be crucial to our interpretive practice throughout.
Prerequisite: One course in English, Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies, American Studies, Philosophy, or Art History.
Instructor: Staff
HUM 213 - Media and the Middle East 4 credits (Fall)
Cross-listed as: SST 213 . This course will explore representations of the Middle East in the Western and Middle-Eastern media. It will adopt a comparative approach and will use theoretical readings and case studies to examine the diverse ways in which news can be viewed as a cultural product.
Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
Instructor: Youssef
HUM 290 - Film Genres 4 credits (Spring)
This course will examine the theory, criticism, and history of film genre. We will take a comparative approach, analyzing the stylistic and narrative conventions of specific genres, and their relationship to culture, race, sexuality, gender and national identity. We will discuss various film genres, including the musical, screwball comedy, melodrama, and film noir. The objective of this course is to explore the question of genre through a range of theoretical rubrics (structuralism, psychoanalysis, feminism and ideological criticism) to address both the social implications and aesthetic properties of cinema. This course requires weekly screenings (usually two films per week) along with the assigned class reading.
Prerequisite: HUM 185 (previously offered as HUM 211).
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Staff
HUM 365 - Studies in Film Theory 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
An intensive examination of important film scholars, movements, and/or theoretical concepts in Film Studies. An advanced-level, variable-topic course that explores film theory and the wide range of critical theories informing film criticism. Possible topics include queer theory, feminist film criticism, aesthetics, theories of space and place, film historiography, postmodernism, psychoanalysis, deconstruction, performance, affect, political economy, genre, poststructuralism, globalization, critical race theory, etc. May be repeated when content changes. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: HUM 185 and third-year standing.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: StaffFrench and Arabic
ARB 101 - Beginning Arabic I 5 credits (Fall)
Study of the fundamentals of spoken and written Modern Standard Arabic with emphasis on communication through oral-aural practice and awareness of cultural context. Acquisition of basic grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Youssef
ARB 102 - Beginning Arabic II 5 credits (Spring)
This course is designed primarily as a continuation of ARB 101 . Emphasizes the development of oral-aural skills and of reading comprehension by providing communicative practice and attention to cultural context.
Prerequisite: ARB 101 or by placement.
Instructor: Youssef
ARB 221 - Intermediate Arabic I 4 credits (Fall)
Conducted in Arabic. Emphasizes grammar and written and oral skills. Provides an introduction to the analysis of literary and cultural texts.
Prerequisite: ARB 102 .
Instructor: Youssef
ARB 222 - Intermediate Arabic II 4 credits (Spring)
Conducted in Arabic. Focuses on the development of written and oral skills. Emphasizes vocabulary acquisition, discussion, and composition through the exploration of literary texts and contemporary media materials.
Prerequisite: ARB 221 .
Instructor: Youssef
FRN 101 - Introduction to French 5 credits (Fall)
Study of the fundamentals of spoken and written French with emphasis on communication through oral-aural practice and awareness of cultural context. Acquisition of basic grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Staff
FRN 102 - Introduction to French II 5 credits (Spring)
Offered only in the spring, this course is designed primarily as a continuation of FRN 101 . Emphasizes the development of oral-aural skills and of reading comprehension by providing communicative practice and attention to cultural context.
Prerequisite: FRN 101 or by placement.
Instructor: Staff
FRN 103 - Accelerated Introduction to French 5 credits (Fall)
Offered only in the fall, this course is for students with some previous study of French. Covers the equivalent of FRN 101 and FRN 102 in a single semester. Emphasizes the development of oral-aural skills and of reading comprehension by providing communicative practice and attention to cultural context. Not open to students who have taken FRN 102 .
Prerequisite: Grinnell Placement Test or consultation with department.
Instructor: Staff
FRN 201 - French Speaking 1 credits (Fall and Spring)
Conversational unit designed for both free and structured oral exchange in French. May be taken only once for credit.
Co-requisite: Concurrent registration in any 200- or 300-level French course.
Instructor: Staff
FRN 221 - Intermediate French I 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
Conducted in French. Review of grammar with emphasis on written and oral skills. Introduction to analysis of literary and cultural texts.
Prerequisite: FRN 102 or FRN 103 .
Instructor: Staff
FRN 222 - Intermediate French II 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
Conducted in French. Review of grammar with a focus on the development of written and oral skills. Emphasis on analysis, discussion, and composition through the exploration of literature, documents, and films related to the Occupation of France during World War II.
Prerequisite: FRN 221 .
Instructor: Staff
FRN 301 - Advanced Reading & Written Expression 2 credits (Fall or Spring)
Conducted in French. This course is designed to prepare students for written work at the advanced level in French. It includes an intensive review of grammar and emphasizes the writing process through composition exercises and multiple revisions.
Prerequisite: FRN 222 .
Note: Half semester deadlines apply.
Instructor: P. Moisan
FRN 302 - Phonetics and Advanced Oral Expression 2 credits (Fall or Spring)
Conducted in French. This intensive course is designed to enhance students’ aural and oral skills in order to prepare them for discussion and presentations at the 300 level. Class activities include phonetic exercises, oral exposés, debates, and dictations.
Prerequisite: FRN 222 .
Note: Half semester deadlines apply.
Instructor: P. Moisan
FRN 303 - French Civilization I: Sites of Myth and Memory 4 credits (Fall)
Conducted in French. An introduction to French civilization from its origins to the French Revolution through the study of historical and literary texts, paintings, and films.
Prerequisite: FRN 222 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Harrison
FRN 304 - French Civilization II: Revolutions and Identities 4 credits (Fall)
Conducted in French. An introduction to French civilization from the French Revolution to the present through the study of historical and literary texts, paintings, and films.
Prerequisite: FRN 222 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: P. Moisan
FRN 305 - Contemporary Francophone Cultures 4 credits (Spring)
Conducted in French. Overview of contemporary France and the French-speaking world. Examines the relationship between national identity and the forces of geography, history, language, race, religion, and ethnicity. Topics include: colonization, decolonization, immigration, French-American relations, and societal values related to the family, gender, education, political organization, the state, and secularism. Uses historical, cultural, and literary texts and films.
Prerequisite: FRN 222 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Caradec
FRN 312 - Introduction to French Literature from the Middle Ages to the Revolution: From Knights to Libertines 4 credits (Spring)
Conducted in French. Readings in poetry, prose, and theatre. Topics may include: the medieval chanson de geste, Renaissance love poetry, tragedy and comedy in the age of Louis XIV, and the Enlightenment. Presents the critical terminology and analytical techniques necessary for in-depth study of the respective genres.
Prerequisite: FRN 222 .
Instructor: Harrison
FRN 313 - Introduction to French Literature of the 19th and 20th Centuries: Literary Revolutions 4 credits (Fall)
Conducted in French. Readings in poetry, theatre, and prose. Examines literary movements such as Romanticism, Realism, the Theatre of the Absurd, Surrealism, and the Nouveau Roman. Presents the critical terminology and analytical techniques necessary for in-depth study of the respective genres.
Prerequisite: FRN 222 .
Instructor: Ireland
FRN 327 - Power and Resistance in 17th- and 18th-Century French Literature 4 credits (Fall)
Conducted in French. Explores the relationship between writers and questions of authority from 1600–1789. Examines the representation of royal power, challenges to state authority and social conventions (such as the role of the church and the position of women in society), and the role of humor as a subversive technique. Authors studied may include La Fontaine, Pascal, Corneille, Moliere, Madame de Lafayette, Mme de Sévigné, Saint-Simon, Diderot, Voltaire, Laclos, and Sade.
Prerequisite: FRN 312 or FRN 313 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Harrison
FRN 328 - Comedy in French Literature Prior to the Revolution 4 credits (Fall)
Conducted in French. Analyzes the notion of the comic in French literary texts written before 1789. Examines the relationship between comedy and society, using the theories of Bakhtin, Bergson, Boileau, and Freud. Focuses on the particular techniques used in different literary genres, such as the novel, theatre, and satiric verse. Works studied may include the farces of the Middle Ages, Rabelais, Marguerite de Navarre, Moliere, Boileau, Voltaire, and Diderot.
Prerequisite: FRN 312 or FRN 313 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Harrison
FRN 329 - Literature and Society in 19th-Century and Belle Epoque France 4 credits (Fall)
Conducted in French. Examines texts representative of Romanticism, Realism, Naturalism, and post-Romantic poetry. Topics may include: realism and nature; the role of description; the expression of desire; and the relationship between the individual and society.
Prerequisite: FRN 312 or FRN 313 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: P. Moisan
FRN 330 - Innovation and Transgression in French from 1870 to 1945 4 credits (Fall)
Conducted in French. Explores the evolution of literature and the rise of cinema between 1870 and 1945; examines notions such as moral and aesthetic transgression and innovation. Topics to be studied may include: collage, montage, memory, war, autobiography, and sexuality in authors and filmmakers such as Rimbaud, Rachilde, Colette, Melies, Jarry, Proust, Gide, Celine, and Cocteau.
Prerequisite: FRN 312 or FRN 313 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: P. Moisan
FRN 331 - Modern Francophone Theatre 4 credits (Spring)
Conducted in French. Study of dramatic texts and their contexts since the Second World War, with reference to existentialism, the theatre of the absurd, and the performance of identity shaped by gender, religion, and postcolonial and immigrant experience. Examines how theatre of the French-speaking world reflects, challenges, and redefines societal, philosophical, and aesthetic values, with a focus on the relationship between text and performance.
Prerequisite: FRN 312 or FRN 313 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Staff
FRN 341 - Contemporary French Writing 4 credits (Spring)
Conducted in French. Traces the evolution of prose fiction from the 1950s to the present and examines its relationship to biography, autobiography, feminist writing, film, and the popular novel. Explores literary representations of topics such as mother-daughter relations, social class, sexuality, illness, interracial relationships, immigration, and exile.
Prerequisite: FRN 312 or FRN 313 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Ireland
FRN 342 - Orientalism Revisited 4 credits (Spring)
Conducted in French. Examines the relations between France and the Orient as portrayed in paintings, photos, films, and prose fiction from the mid-19th century to the present. Focuses in particular on images of Oriental women, beginning with France’s representation of its colonies as female. The main topics to be considered are: the depiction of interracial relationships; the effect of gender on the experience of immigration; women and war (Algeria and Lebanon); women’s voices in contemporary North Africa; and the notions of tradition and modernity in relation to issues such as arranged marriages, polygamy, and excision. The Orient studied includes Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt, and Lebanon.
Prerequisite: FRN 312 or FRN 313 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Ireland
FRN 346 - The Francophone Caribbean World: From Plantation to Emancipation 4 credits (Spring)
Conducted in French. This course explores relations between the francophone Caribbean islands (Haiti, Guadeloupe and Martinique) and the métropole from the colonial period to the present. It addresses topics such as slavery, négritude, identity, multilingualism, diaspora, globalization and the environmental challenges facing the region. Students will examine poetry, theater, fiction and film. Authors to be studied include Césaire, Fanon, Roumain, Chamoiseau, Glissant, Condé, Laferrière and Frankétienne.
Prerequisite: FRN 312 or FRN 313 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Caradec
FRN 350 - Advanced Topics in Literature and Civilization 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
Intensive study of a particular period, author, theme, movement, and/or genre. Topic will be announced each time the course is offered. Conducted in French. Course may be repeated for credit if content is different. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: FRN 312 or FRN 313 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: StaffGender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies
GWS 111 - Introduction to Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This course introduces students to key topics, concepts, approaches, and problems in Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies as the field has developed over the past 45 years. We investigate the significance and meaning of gender at different periods in United States history and explore the development of United States feminism and feminist theory, adopting comparative and transnational perspectives throughout the semester. The ways in which race, ethnicity, sexuality, class, nationality, and age shape experience, culture, ideology, and politics are central areas of inquiry. We also address the means through which women have resisted inequality and affected social and political change. This course takes an interdisciplinary approach, and students are introduced to scholarship from a wide range of disciplines, including cultural studies, economics, history, philosophy, political theory, psychology, and sociology.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Staff
GWS 211 - Foundations of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Studies 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This course provides students with an introduction to the interdisciplinary field of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) studies. We study the emergence and transformation of LGBTQ identities, cultural practices, and political movements within the broader context of changes in social constructions of sexuality, as well as cultural, social, political, and economic transformations. We pay particular attention to the ways in which gender, race, ethnicity, class, and generation have shaped same-sex sexuality in different historical periods.
Prerequisite: GWS 111 and second-year standing.
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Staff
GWS 235 - Feminism and Popular Culture 4 credits (Fall)
This course examines various popular cultural forms using feminist criticism/theory as a critical lens. Through an intersectional and intertextual investigation of television, film, advertising, and popular music, students will explore how representation both reflects and produces sociocultural phenomena and ideas about race, gender, class, and sexuality in society.
Prerequisite: GWS 111
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Johnson
GWS 249 - Theory and Methodology in Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies 4 credits (Fall)
This course provides students with a comprehensive and in-depth exploration of the interdisciplinary field of Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies, including its theories, methods, debates, and relationships to other academic disciplines. We examine the history and development of feminist and queer theory, paying particular attention to the relationship between theory and activism. We explore the forms of privilege and power operating within feminist and queer theory and the intersections of race, sexuality, class, and gender.
Prerequisite: GWS 111
Instructor: Staff
GWS 295-01 - Special Topic: Disability & Race 4 credits (Fall)
In this course, we will study the intersections of race and disability in their historical production, systemic overlap as ableism and racism, cultural representation, and political experiential dimensions. Through interdisciplinary examples, we will discuss the production of whiteness through definitions of health and disease, the role of race in the medicalization of physical, mental, and intellectual difference, and the ”fantasies of identification” that attempt to fix embodied social identities.
Prerequisite: GWS 111 .
Instructor: Koch-Rein
GWS 295-01 - Special Topic: Dogs, Identities, & Culture 4 credits (Spring)
In this course we will investigate how categories such as race, class, gender, disability, and sexuality speak to dog cultures and cultural dogs. We will discuss human-dog relationships, histories, and material practices (e.g. dog boutiques, dog fighting, service dogs, solider dogs) and will analyze visual and narrative dog representations. We will approach dogs as “companion species” (Donna Haraway) in feminist theory through interdisciplinary perspectives ranging from animial studies to history, legal studies, and ethics.
Prerequisite: GWS 111 .
Instructor: Koch-Rein
GWS 324 - Critical Race Feminisms 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This course provides an introduction to critical theoretical debates about gender, race, and class in the United States legal system. Students examine legal concepts, structures, and narratives that produce and/or reinforce patterns of discrimination and inequality, as well as examine alternative models proposed within critical legal scholarship.
Prerequisite: GWS 111 and one GWS course at the 200 level.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Johnson
GWS 331 - Studies in American Prose II 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Cross-listed as: ENG 331 when taught as Feminist Memoirs. A study of contemporary memoirs by feminist writers. In addition to critically analyzing the memoir as a literary form, students will examine how feminist writers have used memoir to describe both personal and political experiences, to theorize from these experiences, and to develop concepts of feminist subjectivity. Readings will include a diverse range of memoirs, as well as critical essays on memoir, autobiography, and feminist/queer theory.
Prerequisite: GWS 249
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Staff
GWS 331-01 - Studies in American Prose II 4 credits (Fall)
See ENG 331-01 .
GWS 395-01 - Advanced Special Topic: Masculinity & American Literature 4 credits (Spring)
This course examines how masculinities are represented, contested, and negotiated in American literature. Foregrounding female and transgender masculinities, we will analyze the role of race, class, gender, and sexuality in depictions of masculinities in literature. We will ask why so many canonical texts, exhibit anxiety about masculinity in crisis, and link that literary history to our present and social and political context. At the same time, we will read marginal texts that offer a fluid range of masculine possibilities.
Prerequisite: GWS 111 and GWS 249 .
Instructor: Allen
GWS 395-01 - Advanced Special Topic: Transnational Transgender Studies 4 credits (Fall)
In this course we will consider the movement of transgender phenomena, knowledges, and practices across regions, nations, and rural-urban spaces. We will draw on a range of disciplines and cultural imaginaries - sexology, anthropology, history, and film - to study examples of localizing trans* in specific inter/national, cultural contexts, including India, Iran, China, Brazil, the Philippines, Namibia/South Africa, Mexico, Japan, and North America. How do these approaches view transgender phenomena, what are their agendas and perspectives, how do they situate the people and communities they study? What do they teach us about gender, sexuality, and how to understand them in context? Looking at examples of transnational analyses, we will formulate and discuss our own expectations for Transnational Transgender Studies.
Prerequisite: GWS 111 and GWS 249 .
Instructor: Koch-Rein
GWS 395-02 - Advanced Special Topic: Queering Race, Racing Queer 4 credits (Spring)
This course will examine what queer studies scholarship can teach us about the social construction of race in the US. To do so, the course will provide an introduction to queer of color critique and other queer studies scholarship that centrally engages questions of race, exploring this dynamic field including its origins in women of color feminism, foundational texts, and recent scholarship.
Prerequisite: GWS 111 and GWS 249 .
Instructor: Vitulli
GWS 495 - Senior Seminar 4 credits (Spring)
An advanced interdisciplinary senior seminar for students who are completing the major in Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies. The course will provide an in-depth exploration of a topic with both historical and contemporary significance within the field of Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: senior status; Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies Major; GWS 111 ; GWS 249 .
Instructor: Staff
GWS 495-01 - Senior Seminar: Bad Feminists, Bad Critics 4 credits (Spring)
This course examines the work of second wave feminist critics in the 1960s and 1970s whose work was either dismissed when it was first published or is out of critical favor in the present. By looking at why some feminists’ work has been left out of the field’s accepted history, we will learn as much (if not more) than we would by repeating the narratives of political progress that are often told about the development of feminism. Throughout the course, we will read texts that have always been “difficult” for feminism such as Mary Daly’s Gyn/Ecology: The Metaethics of Radical Feminism, which sparked a public debate about the role of race and racism in radical feminism. We will also examine authors who were labeled “bad” critics by the broader public, such as Kate Millett whose Sexual Politics was the subject of much derision in literary circles. As well, we will look at figures who have been bad for feminism, including Valerie Solanas and her little-known play Up Your Ass. Finally, we will close the semester with a unit on recent feminist interest in the 1960s and 1970s, and look at contemporary works that offer new ways of thinking about old histories.
Prerequisite: GWS 111 , GWS 249 , senior status, and Senior Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies major.
Instructor: AllenGeneral Literary Studies
GLS 135 - Philosophy and Literature 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
See PHI 135 .
Note: Not offered every year.
GLS 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: Love and Impermanence, Feast and Reclusion: Major Themes in Classical Chinese Lyrical Tradition 4 credits (Spring)
See CHI 195-01 or EAS 195-01 .
GLS 201 - Dramatic Literature 1 4 credits (Fall)
See THD 201 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
GLS 202 - Dramatic Literature 2 4 credits (Spring)
See THD 202 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
GLS 203 - American Theatre 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
See THD 203 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
GLS 227 - Topics in German Literature in Translation 4 credits (Spring)
See GRM 227 .
GLS 233 - Frames of Reference: Topics in German Cinema from 1920 to the Present 4 credits (Fall)
See GRM 233 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
GLS 242 - Classical Mythology 4 credits (Spring)
See CLS 242 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
GLS 247 - The Russian Short Story 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
See RUS 247 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
GLS 248 - The Russian Novel 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
See RUS 248 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
GLS 251 - Theoretical Approaches to Children’s and Young Adult Literature 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
See HUM 251 .
GLS 251-01 - Theoretical Approaches to Children’s and Young Adult Literature 4 credits (Spring)
See HUM 251-01 .
GLS 261 - History of Russian Film 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
See RUS 261 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
GLS 277 - Modern China through Literature and Film (in Translation) 4 credits
See CHI 277 .
Note: Not offered every year.
GLS 279 - Modern Japanese Fiction and Film 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
See JPN 279 .
GLS 281 - Major Russian Writers 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
See RUS 281 .
Note: Plus-2 option available in Russian.
GLS 291 - Perspectives in 20th-Century Central and Eastern European Literature 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
See RES 291 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
GLS 303 - Studies in Drama I 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
See THD 303 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
GLS 304 - Studies in Drama II 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
See THD 304 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
GLS 304-01 - Studies in Drama II: Ibsen/Strindberg/Chekhov 4 credits (Spring)
See THD 304-01 .
GLS 349 - Medieval Literature 4 credits (Fall)
See ENG 349 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
General Science
SCI 125 - Introduction to Earth System Science w/lab 4 credits (Fall)
See ENV 125 .
SCI 350 - Freedom and Authority: The Control of Reproduction 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Cross-listed as: HUM 350 and SST 350 How do social, biological, and cultural constraints affect decisions about reproduction? How do social institutions set and enforce the boundaries of what is possible and permissible? How do practices of reproduction generate meaning for human existence? This seminar examines conflicts between the freedom of the individual to make decisions about reproduction and the internal and external authorities of biology, evolution, the family, the state, health care systems, criminal justice systems, and religious hierarchies.
Prerequisite: Third-year or senior standing and completion of a four-credit course at the 200-level or above creditable to a major in the division of registration.
Note: Not offered every year
Instructor: StaffGeneral Studies
GEN 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: Grinnell Scholar’s Seminar 1 credits (Fall)
Discussion seminar focused on the research and theory of learning, cognition, and motivation, and on the human and environmental factors that impact these processes. Students will practice evidence-based strategies and apply them to the students’ existing courses with opportunities for reflection and feedback.
Prerequisite: Open to first-year students and others with instructor permission.
Note: Instruction is available without credit (from the Academic Advising Office) to students who cannot take the course or who need only occasional assistance. Meets September 18 to November 15, 1/2 semester deadlines apply. S/D/F only.
Instructor: Backous
GEN 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: Grinnell Scholar’s Seminar 1 credits (Spring)
Discussion seminar focused on the research and theory of learning, cognition, and motivation, and on the human and environmental factors that impact these processes. Students will practice evidence-based strategies and apply them to the students’ existing courses with opportunities for reflection and feedback.
Prerequisite: Open to first-year students and to others with instructor permission.
Note: Instruction available without credit (from the Academic Advising Office) to students who cannot take the course or who need only occasional assistance. Dates: January 29 to March 12. 1/2 semester deadlines apply. S/D/F only.
Instructor: Backous
GEN 195-02 - Introductory Special Topic: First Year Experience 1 credits (Spring)
Course aims to support first-year students successful transition to college by developing skills and supporting their development. Topics include self-care, coping, mental health, harm reduction, sexual respect, consent, healthy relationships, active bystanderism, personal identity, dialogue across difference, self-governance, diversity and social justice basics, belonging and flourishing, and mentorship.
Prerequisite: Open to first-year students only.
Note: Dates: January 29 to March 12. 1/2 semester deadlines apply. S/D/F only
Instructor: GilbertGerman
GRM 101 - Introductory German 5 credits (Fall)
Acquisition of German language skills through listening, speaking, reading, and study of grammar. Students will develop communication skills such as the ability to talk about themselves and their interests. Practice of oral skills with a native German-speaking assistant.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Staff
GRM 102 - Continuing German 5 credits (Spring)
Continuation and completion of oral-aural study of grammatical structures. Increased emphasis on developing oral fluency. Introduction to the literature and culture of Germany through reading and analysis of modern short stories and expository prose. Practice of oral skills with a native German-speaking assistant.
Prerequisite: GRM 101 .
Instructor: Staff
GRM 212 - German Conversation 1 credits (Fall and Spring)
Focus on development of conversation skills. Discussion based on a variety of cultural topics. May be repeated once for credit.
Prerequisite: GRM 102 .
Note: Does not count toward major. S/D/F only.
Instructor: Staff
GRM 221 - Intermediate German I 4 credits (Fall)
Review of selected topics in German grammar, accompanied and followed by continued practice in speaking, reading, and writing.
Prerequisite: GRM 102 .
Instructor: Staff
GRM 222 - Intermediate German II 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Reading and discussion of literary works of intermediate difficulty. Reading content designed to acquaint students with important aspects of recent German culture and to develop skill in the analysis and comprehension of modern German prose.
Prerequisite: GRM 221 .
Instructor: Staff
GRM 227 - Topics in German Literature in Translation 4 credits (Spring)
Cross-listed as: GLS 227 . Texts selected from a wide variety of literary (and some nonliterary) texts by German-speaking authors. Readings and discussion in English. May be repeated once for credit when content changes. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Staff
GRM 233 - Frames of Reference: Topics in German Cinema from 1920 to the Present 4 credits (Fall)
Cross-listed as: GLS 233 . Readings and discussions in English. Seminal readings from film theory combined with a survey of German cinema from its inception to the present. Variable thematic concerns include the aesthetics of power, the real and the imaginary, representations of subjectivity, and the construction of national identity. German majors write in German.
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Staff
GRM 295-01 - Special Topic: Print Matters: History, Theory, Praxis 4 credits (Spring)
Cross-listed as: ART 295-01 . This course is an introduction to cultures of print. Students will learn to historicize and theorize the materials, techniques, and processes related to analog and digital print media. Students will produce intaglio, relief and letterpress prints using analog and digital processes. Examining specific events, moments and movements, students will pose questions how cultural history and print processes intersect.
Prerequisite: None if taken as GRM-295-01; ART 111 if taken as ART-295-01.
Instructor: Byrd, Chen
GRM 295-02 - Special Topic: Race, Gender, and Sexuality in Modern Germany 4 credits (Spring)
Cross-listed as: HIS 295-02 . This seminar explores the relationship between race, gender, and sexuality in modern German history. From this perspective, we will explore anti-Semitism; same-sex sexuality; colonialism; as well as war genocide. We will also pay attention to significance of intimacy and difference in the histories of Germany’s postwar reconstruction as we consider narratives that destabilize Germany’s racialized and gendered national identify until this day.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 or second-year standing.
Instructor: Samper Vendrell
GRM 302 - Core Seminar I: From Culture to Nation 4 credits (Fall)
Conducted in German. Study of German literature, history, and culture from 1750 to 1871 through literary and historical texts, documentaries, and films.
Prerequisite: GRM 222 .
Instructor: Staff
GRM 303 - Core Seminar II: German Identity Through Wars and Reconciliations 4 credits (Spring)
Conducted in German. Study of German literature, history, and culture from 1871 to the present through literary and historical texts, documentaries, and films.
Prerequisite: GRM 222 .
Instructor: Staff
GRM 310 - Topics in German Language and Culture 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Advanced language course with special emphasis on oral and written proficiency in German. Pertinent cultural and sociopolitical issues of German-speaking countries are used as a basis for short essays and discussions. Predominantly non-literary texts are chosen.
Prerequisite: GRM 222 .
Instructor: Staff
GRM 331 - The German Cultural Heritage: From Tacitus to Goethe 4 credits
Conducted in German. An introduction to German culture from the Germanic tribes to the Enlightenment. Topics to be examined include political organizations, gender issues, and religion, with readings from the pre-middle ages, the medieval period, the Reformation, the Enlightenment, and the Storm and Stress movement. All readings in modern German.
Prerequisite: GRM 302 and GRM 303 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Byrd
GRM 343 - Cultural and Intellectual Revolution from Classicism Through Realism 4 credits
Conducted in German. A study of literature and thought from the late 18th century through 1880. Literary texts will be placed within the philosophical, historical, and socio-linguistic context. Variable topics.
Prerequisite: GRM 302 and GRM 303 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Byrd
GRM 350 - Contested Subjects: German Culture from the Avant-Garde to Postmodernism 4 credits
Conducted in German. An exploration of German-speaking identities through their formulations and contestations in literature, architecture, cinema, music, cabaret, and political culture. Tracing the artistic epochs from Naturalism to Postmodernism, the course will examine ideologies of self and Other as they relate to ethnicity, race, class, gender, and geography.
Prerequisite: GRM 302 and GRM 303 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Reynolds, Samper Vendrell
GRM 354 - The Turbulent Century: Literature and Culture in 20th-Century Germany 4 credits
Conducted in German. A study of responses in literary and other texts to historical, political, and social events such as World War I, the Weimar Republic, World War II, postwar reconstruction, the German Democratic Republic, and unification. Variable topics.
Prerequisite: GRM 302 and GRM 303 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Samper Vendrell
GRM 372 - Recent Trends in German Literature 1 or 2 credits (Spring)
Close reading and analysis of recent German works from a contemporary cultural perspective. Conducted by the German writer in residence. All readings and discussion in German. May be repeated once for credit.
Prerequisite: GRM 302 .
Instructor: Staff
GRM 495 - Advanced Seminar in German Studies 4 credits (Spring)
Critical reading and close analysis of selected texts in German literature and culture for students with a solid background in the study of German. Topics vary, and texts include both primary and secondary sources. Course may be repeated once for credit when content changes.
Prerequisite: Senior standing or special permission for third-year students.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: StaffGlobal Development Studies
GDS 111 - Introduction to Global Development Studies 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
This course adopts an interdisciplinary approach to the analysis of contemporary issues in the economic development of less-developed countries. Course reviews the leading theories of economic, political, and social change that have been adopted by anthropologists, economists, and political scientists, and considers how these theories have shaped past and current debate on the definition and goals of the development process. Course compares and contrasts the approaches adopted by international institutions and alternative development organizations to the “practice” of development.
Prerequisite: One course in Anthropology, or Economics, or Political Science, or Sociology. ECN 111 is strongly recommended.
Instructor: Brottem, Roper
GDS 154 - Natural Hazards and Disasters 4 credits (Spring)
See ENV 154 .
GDS 251 - Water, Development, and the Environment 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Cross-listed as: ENV 251 . This course explores international water issues, focusing on the environmental, social, economic, and political implications of water scarcity. Emphasis will be on three interrelated topics: water scarcity as a constraint on development; water scarcity as a source of domestic and international conflict; and, in particular, the environmental implications of water supply projects and their social and economic consequences. Water management policy and the implications of changing climate on regional water availability will also be considered.
Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: P. Jacobson
GDS 261 - Climate Change, Development and the Environment 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Cross-listed as: ENV 261 . This course introduces the basic science of climate change, focusing on the environmental, social, economic, and political implications of such change, as well as the institutions and associated policies engaged in negotiating a response, both locally and globally. Students will conduct in-depth examinations of key regions and ecosystems exemplifying how climate change is closely intertwined with development and natural resource management. The difficulties of predicting regional shifts in climate will be considered, along with the challenges associated with defining policy in the face of uncertainty.
Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: P. Jacobson, Brottem
GDS 346 - Sustainable Development in the Modern World System 4 credits (Spring)
Interdisciplinary social science examination of theories and issues concerning “sustainable development.” Historical consideration of the goals of development along with how and why the concept of sustainability became prevalent in the dominant discourse, and the contested meanings applied to this concept. Focus then given to several key issues (varying by year) at the boundary of economic/social development, natural resource management, and environmental degradation (such as population growth, agrarian reform, international environmental treaties, climate change, deforestation, agribusiness, tourism, etc.). Can count as anthropology seminar when taught by Roper.
Prerequisite: GDS 111 and ANT 238 , ECN 230 , ECN 233 , ECN 240 , EDU 217 , POL 251 , POL 257 , POL 259 , SOC 220 , SOC 240 , or SST 230 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: RoperHistory
HIS 30x - Advanced Studies in Latin America History 4 credits
In any academic year, students may choose from among six to eight 300-level seminar courses. For current course descriptions, prerequisites, and instructors, please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
HIS 31x - Advanced Studies in United States History 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
In any academic year, students may choose from among six to eight 300-level seminar courses. For current course descriptions, prerequisites, and instructors, please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
HIS 32x - Advanced Studies in United States History 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
In any academic year, students may choose from among six to eight 300-level seminar courses. For current course descriptions, prerequisites, and instructors, please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
HIS 33x - Advanced Studies in Western European and British History 4 credits
In any academic year, students may choose from among six to eight 300-level seminar courses. For current course descriptions, prerequisites, and instructors, please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
HIS 34x - Advanced Studies in Russian History 4 credits
In any academic year, students may choose from among six to eight 300-level seminar courses. For current course descriptions, prerequisites, and instructors, please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
HIS 35x - Advanced Studies in Historiography and Ancient History 4 credits
In any academic year, students may choose from among six to eight 300-level seminar courses. For current course descriptions, prerequisites, and instructors, please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
HIS 36x - Advanced Studies in African & Middle-Eastern History 4 credits
In any academic year, students may choose from among six to eight 300-level seminar courses. For current course descriptions, prerequisites, and instructors, please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
HIS 37x - Advanced Studies in Asian History 4 credits
In any academic year, students may choose from among six to eight 300-level seminar courses. For current course descriptions, prerequisites, and instructors, please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
HIS 38X - Advanced Studies in Comparative and Transregional History 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
In any academic year, students may choose from among six to eight 300-level seminar courses. For current course descriptions, prerequisites, and instructors, please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
HIS 100 - Introduction to Historical Inquiry 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Introduces students to historical analysis and argumentation. Individual sections focus on different topics and time periods. In all sections, students will investigate a range of sources, methods, and approaches that historians use to interpret the past. Required of all majors and appropriate for all students. For current course content, please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Staff
HIS 100-01 - Introduction to Historical Inquiry: The Spanish Conquest of America 4 credits (Spring)
This course provides an introduction to issues of historical causation, argumentation, and evidence through the lens of the first major episode of European colonization. In tandem with discussions of historical methods we will examine accounts of Spanish experiences in the Caribbean, in Mexico, and in the Andes. Using primary and secondary sources, students will learn the skills necessary to analyze historical scholarship and be introduced to the various means by which historians conduct research and write about the past.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Silva
HIS 100-01 - Introduction to Historical Inquiry: U.S. in the Age of Transatlantic Revolution 4 credits (Fall)
This course provides an introduction to issues of historical causation, argumentation, and evidence, through the lens of U.S. History in the age of the American, French, and Haitian Revolutions (1763-1815). After introductory units on historical methods and the concept of transatlantic history, we will spend the bulk of the semester considering U.S. history in a global context to understand how Revolutions shaped politics, culture, social relations, race, and gender. Students will work intensively with primary sources.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Purcell
HIS 100-02 - Introduction to Historical Inquiry: The Conservation Movement 4 credits (Fall)
This course provides an introduction to issues of historical causation, argumentation, and evidence through the lens of the Conservation movement (1870-1940) which aimed to transform societies’ use of natural resources. After an introductory unit on historical methods, we will examine how various efforts to conserve nature unfolded in American cities, rural landscapes, and national parks. We will also explore the international dimensions of this story, tracing the growing role of conservation in European imperialism around the globe.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Guenther
HIS 100-02 - Introduction to Historical Inquiry: The Rise and Fall of New World Slavery 4 credits (Spring)
This course provides an introduction to issues of historical causation, argumentation, and evidence, through the lens of the foundings and practices of New World slavery, as well as the social movements that abolished the institution. After an introductory unit on historical methods, we will use our exploration of slavery as it developed in Brazil, the Caribbean, and mainland North America as a window on issues of power and exploitation, outsiders and insiders, the construction of race, the connections between freedom and slavery, the early stages of consumer-driven economics, and the promise and limitations of social reform. A central theme in the course will be the way in which “progress” and freedom depended on the enslavement of Africans.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Lacson
HIS 100-03 - Introduction to Historical Inquiry: After the Great War 4 credits (Fall)
This course provides an introduction to issues of historical causation, argumentation, and evidence, by exploring the impact of the First World War (1914-18) on the political, social, and cultural institutions of Europe and the wider world, and using the current centenary of the war to consider its legacy. After introductory units on historical methods and the experience of the war, we will investigate how European citizens and subjects attempted to reconstruct, reinvent, and make sense of “a world undone.” Topics will include cultural memory and modernism; gender and the “New Woman”; the rise of Nazism; internationalism and the League of Nations; colonialism and nationalism.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Prevost
HIS 100-03 - Introduction to Historical Inquiry: Europe under the Great Dictators 4 credits (Fall)
This course provides an introduction to issues of historical causation, argumentation, and evidence, through the lens of two of the most repressive dictators in all of world history–Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin. After an introductory unit on historical methods, we will use a variety of primary and secondary texts to investigate the workings of the Nazi and Stalinist dictatorships, examining subjects like everyday life in a dictatorship, the personal role of Hitler and Stalin in determining state policy, the use of state terror and the secret police, the rise of the leader cult, the origins of the Holocaust, and the nature of Stalin’s Great Purges.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Cohn
HIS 201 - Colonial Latin America 4 credits (Spring)
A general survey of Latin American history from the Columbian encounter through independence. The course will focus on the patterns of European conquest and colonization, the complexity of race relations in the region, and the problems of colonial administration.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 or second-year standing.
Note: Not offered every year.
Plus-2 option available.
Foreign language option available in Spanish or Portuguese for course and +2.
Instructor: Silva
HIS 202 - Modern Latin America 4 credits (Fall)
A general survey of Latin American history from independence to the present day. The course will focus on problems of political instability, economic development, and the role of the United States in the region.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 or second-year standing.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Foreign language option available in Spanish or Portuguese for course and +2.
Instructor: Silva
HIS 204 - Radical Movements in 20th-Century Latin America 4 credits
During the 20th century, Latin America has witnessed both peaceful leftist mobilizations and violent revolutions. All of these movements aimed at redressing inequalities and creating more just societies. This course will consider several of these movements in comparative perspective.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 or second-year standing.
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Silva
HIS 210 - Historical Perspectives on US Education 4 credits (Fall)
See EDU 210 .
HIS 212 - Democracy in America, 1789–1848 4 credits (Fall)
Examines the tensions caused by the simultaneous development of political democracy in the United States and the demands for rights by those who continued to be excluded from various forms of power. Topics include: the creation of party politics, reform movements, economic growth, class conflict, expansionism, race, slavery, gender, and material culture.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 or second-year standing.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Purcell
HIS 214 - The American Civil War and Reconstruction 4 credits (Spring)
Surveys the causes, progress, and consequences of the Civil War and Reconstruction. Examines American history from the mid-1840s through the late 1870s with a focus on race, politics, economics, gender, and military conflict to uncover how and why the United States tore itself apart, whether the fundamental conflicts of the war were solved by Reconstruction, and why the Civil War has occupied such an important place in American history and imagination.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 or second-year standing.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Purcell
HIS 220 - U.S. Environmental History 4 credits (Spring)
This course examines some of the central issues and debates in American environmental history, ranging from the era of pre-contact to the present day. Key topics will include: the shifting patterns of land use and resource management among Native American and settler communities; the ecological transformations wrought by commercial agriculture and industrial capitalism; the evolution of environmental policy; and the changing ways in which people have conceptualized and interacted with the natural world around them.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 or second-year standing.
Instructor: Guenther
HIS 222 - Women in American History 4 credits (Spring)
This course examines the history of women in the United States from the colonial period through the 1970’s. Students consider the role of race, class, ethnicity, and sexuality in shaping women’s experiences, as well as the tensions between gender expectations, gender performance, and gender identities. Special attention is paid to women’s efforts to expand their access to equal rights, full citizenship status, and bodily autonomy.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 or second-year standing.
Instructor: Lewis
HIS 223 - Health and Medicine in American History 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This course examines the history of medical care in America from the colonial period through the 20th century. Students consider how social factors, as well as personal, political, and professional agendas, influenced medical knowledge and practice. Students explore the constructed meanings of disease and health, and the individuals, technologies, and scientific discoveries that shaped them. Special attention is given to themes of public health, personal agency, and professional authority.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 or second-year standing.
Instructor: Lewis
HIS 224 - Sex in American History 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This course explores the history of American sexual experiences, desires, and identities. Students will consider changes, contradictions, and continuities in ideals as well as the complicated realities of lived experiences. Topics include the invention of sexualities, courtship and marriage customs, sexual citizenship, sex as work, sexual violence, and more.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 , or second-year standing.
Instructor: Lewis
HIS 225 - Native American History, 1491–1865 4 credits (Fall)
This course offers a social, environmental, political, and cultural history of early America from the perspectives of Native Americans. From the point of view of Native Americans, we will examine many familiar topics, such as European exploration of North America, the founding of European colonies, warfare among European powers, slavery, and the American Revolution.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 or second-year standing.
Instructor: Lacson
HIS 226 - Native American History, 1871 to Present 4 credits (Spring)
From the end of treaty-making with the United States in the late-nineteenth century through to the present, this course examines the struggles of Native people in asserting tribal sovereignty while simultaneously acknowledging connections to the United States. Focusing on some well-known events and people, like Little Big Horn and Geronimo, and many lesser-known people and events, this course examines persistence and change as American Indians in the United States grappled with issues of sovereignty and citizenship.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 or second-year standing.
Instructor: Lacson
HIS 227 - African American History 4 credits (Spring)
A survey of the African American experience in slavery and freedom, with a primary emphasis on the struggle for racial justice and equality since the Civil War. Assignments stress primary sources as well as scholarly studies, films, and recordings.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 or second-year standing.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Lacson
HIS 229 - American Economic History 4 credits
See ECN 229 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
HIS 232 - Sex, Gender, and Family in Europe, 1300-1700 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
What did it mean to be a child, woman, or man in Europe between 1300 and 1700? This course explores the experiences of exemplary and deviant sorts including nuns, courtesans, sodomites, peasants, witches, slaves, and conquistadors. It examines the construction of identity and sexual familial relationships in a period of social change and increasing entanglement with non-Christian cultures. Students will examine primary sources, historical debates, and film and develop a virtual museum exhibition.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 or second-year standing.
Instructor: Staff
HIS 233 - Renaissance, Reformations, Explorations 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Examines the crucible of forces that turned Europe from a geographical location into a powerful cultural idea. We will explore the cultural movement of the Renaissance and the subsequent transformation of natural philosophy, the religious reformations that divided Christendom and catalyzed years of sectarian warfare, and Europeans’ increasing engagement with the wider world. Students will study primary sources and historical debates, and practice communicating history to a public audience.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 or second-year standing.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Chou
HIS 234 - Tudors and Stuarts, 1485-1707 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Tudor and Stuart monarchs were some of the most intriguing characters to walk on the world’s stage. Their reigns were characterized by major changes in British and Irish political, religious, economic, and cultural life; these transformations shaped the politics and denominational diversity of the modern, Anglophone world. Students will examine manuscripts, rare books, portraits, and architecture, intervene in major historical debates about the period, and recreate an evening in Elizabeth I’s court.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 or second-year standing.
Instructor: Chou
HIS 235 - Britain in the Age of Enlightenment 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This course examines the dramatic transformations that took place in the British world during the “long eighteenth century” (1688-1832), ushering in new forms of industry and imperialism, family life and socialbility, work and leisure, literature and science, politics and civil society. Students will explore how these transformations helped create many of the patterns of our modern world while also examining the new spaces and settings–such as the coffeehouse or the laboratory–in which they unfolded.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 or second-year standing.
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Guenther
HIS 236 - Modern Britain and the Empire 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This course examines the expansion and contraction of the British world order in the 19th and 20th centuries, and considers how modern British political institutions, social and economic structures, and cultural identities developed in a global context. Special attention will be paid to the evolving relationship between Britain “at home” and Britain’s empire overseas (particularly in South Asia).
Prerequisite: HIS 100 or second-year standing.
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Prevost
HIS 237 - The Spectacle of Modern France 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Beginning with a detailed analysis of the French Revolution as the foundation for the making of modern France, this course concentrates thereafter on pivotal issues including transnational relationships with countries like Germany, Algeria, and the United States; consumerism and urban spectacle; the lure of bohemia and the fin-de-siècle crisis of bourgeois values; the interplay of so-called elite and mass cultures; and the collapse and recovery of democratic institutions in the twentieth century. We highlight perspectives of class, race, and gender and focus upon the power of culture and ideas in shaping the French nation.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 or second-year standing.
Note: Plus-2 option available in English or French.
Instructor: Maynard
HIS 238 - The Making of Modern Germany 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This course traces the rise of the modern German nation from the accession of Frederick the Great through the Cold War. We examine the gradual decline of Habsburg dominance; the ascent of a powerful economic, military, and intellectual “Germany” dominated by Prussia by 1870; the rupture of World War I and the ensuing radicalism of the Weimar Republic; the rise and fall of the Third Reich; and Germany’s recovery from the catastrophes of the early twentieth century. We address the role of geography, culture, and ethnicity in the construction of national identity and the ongoing interplay between politics and culture.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 or second-year standing.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Foreign language option available in German for course and +2.
Instructor: Maynard
HIS 239 - Tyrants and Tunesmiths: Opera, Politics, and Society in Modern Europe 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This course examines the complex relationship between operatic production and political power in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in several national contexts including France, Germany, Italy, and the Soviet Union. We consider specific interactions among composers, politicians, and institutions and seek to understand how such engagements shaped both the works themselves and the political and social realities around them in the processes of inception, performance, and reception.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 or second-year standing.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Foreign language option available in English, French, or German for course and +2.
Instructor: Maynard
HIS 241 - Origins of Modern Russia 4 credits (Fall)
Focusing upon the medieval origins of early East Slavic societies and the formation of the Muscovite state and Russian Empire, this course examines the political, economic, and social components of pre-revolutionary Russia from the 10th through the 19th centuries. The dynamics of ethnicity, the multiple forms of state-building, and the role of gender, class, and ideology receive special attention.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 or second-year standing. Option of doing some work in Russian.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Cohn
HIS 242 - The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union 4 credits (Spring)
Examines the rise and fall of the Soviet Union, from the appearance of the revolutionary movement in the 19th century to the collapse of the U.S.S.R. in 1991. Key topics will include the origins of the revolution, the workings of the Stalinist dictatorship, the push to create a “New Soviet Man,” the reforms of Nikita Khrushchev, and the causes of the 1991 collapse. Option of doing some work in Russian.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 or second-year standing.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Cohn
HIS 244 - Ivan and Fritz Go to War: World War II on the Eastern Front 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This course examines the war between Nazi Germany and the Stalinist U.S.S.R. along World War II’s Eastern Front. Although it will include an overview of the war’s main military events, it will focus on the conflict’s social and political significance. Major themes will include the experiences of the troops, the political working of each wartime regime, the reasons for the unusually high level of brutality, the war’s relationship to the Holocaust, and the Soviet myth of the war.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 or second-year standing.
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Cohn
HIS 255 - History of Ancient Greece 4 credits (Fall)
See CLS 255 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
HIS 257 - The Roman Republic 4 credits (Fall)
See CLS 257 .
Note: Not offered every year.
HIS 258 - The Roman Empire 4 credits (Fall)
See CLS 258 .
HIS 261 - Southern Africa 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
An introduction to the 10-country region, with an emphasis on the Republic of South Africa. Regional geography along with culture and politics are principal themes, including the rise and fall of the South African apartheid state, culminating in a historical reenactment of conflict resolution.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 or second-year standing.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Prevost, Drake
HIS 262 - Modern Africa from the Sahara to the Zambezi 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
An introduction to West, Central, and East Africa during the colonial and post-colonial periods, focusing on the local, regional, and international dynamics of state-building, social and economic change, religious transformation, cultural identity, nationalism, and globalization.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 or second-year standing.
Note: Plus-2 option Available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Prevost
HIS 266 - History of the Modern Middle East 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This course charts the development of the modern Middle East, exploring the contestations, negotiations, and exclusions that characterize the transformation of life in the region from 1798 through today. We will guide our exploration with pointed questions: How did the nation become an organizing principle for collective life? How did capitalism take root? How did secularism become a question of concern? How, for whom, and to what effect did modernity become a specific concern in the region?
Prerequisite: HIS 100 or second-year standing.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Elfenbein
HIS 267 - Islam in the Modern Era 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Cross-listed as: REL 267 . This course explores Islamic traditions during the modern period (post-1800), focusing especially on the way that modern colonialism and imperialism transformed life in Muslim communities in South Asia and the Middle East. We will explore this general issue through more specific topics such as historical change in Islamic legal traditions and in the place of religion in economic and political life in Muslim communities.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 , REL 101 , REL 102 , REL 103 , REL 104 , REL 105 , or second-year standing.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Elfenbein
HIS 268 - Islam and Gender 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
See REL 268 .
HIS 271 - Imperial Collisions in the Asia-Pacific 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This course is intended to introduce students to the modern history of East Asia. We will focus primarily on empire, or the construction of large-scale political, economic, and military structures through which human populations and other resources of statecraft were mobilized in the service of expansionist agendas throughout the modern age. Case studies will focus on the Qing empire, the British and French empires, the Empire of Great Japan, and Cold War-era Pacific alliances. In the latter case, we will also debate whether empire or imperial systems have survived into the present day - a question with important consequences for how we think about our own relationship to earlier historical moments. Finally, this course will address the relationship between national revolutions and anti-imperial agendas, as well as recent (and some not-so-recent) events which have shaped East Asia’s contemporary economic resurgence.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 or second-year standing.
Instructor: Staff
HIS 275 - China’s Revolutions 4 credits (Fall)
Revolutions taking place in 1911, 1927, 1949 have massively impacted the evolution of state-society relationships in China today. Each week, we will examine the forces which pushed forward China’s revolutionary process, the obstacles which revolution encountered, and the inequalities it created and re-created. Through close reading of primary documents we will answer questions such as - What does revolution mean? How can this concept be meaningfully applied to China? What are its contemporary legacies?
Prerequisite: HIS 100 or second-year standing.
Instructor: Staff
HIS 277 - China’s Rise 4 credits (Spring)
In 1949, Mao Zedong declared that “the Chinese people have stood up.” Twenty years later, Mao’s Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution brought China’s people to the precipice of disaster. Fast forward another twenty years, and China has once again “stood up” in the international community. How can we account for these changes? By focusing on foreign policy, political economy, and lived experience, this course addresses and evaluates China’s rise to great power status.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 or second-year standing.
Instructor: Staff
HIS 281 - Science and Society 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This course focuses on the rise of modern science in Europe and the Americas from roughly 1650 to 1900, exploring how revolutionary developments in the physical, biological and human sciences were connected to profound changes in the social and political world, such as the Enlightenment, the industrial revolution, new forms of imperialism and statecraft, work and leisure, democratic politics, and the growing emphasis on racial and sexual difference.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 , or second-year standing.
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Guenther
HIS 295-01 - Special Topic: Digital Methods in Historical Studies 4 credits (Spring)
This course will introduce students to methods used in the digital humanities, with a special emphasis on applications to historical studies. Students will create projects and study existing digital projects, with a special focus on U.S. History in a global context. Readings will include primary sources as well as recent contributions to theory in digital humanities. We will learn general principles of working with humanistic data as well as techniques such as building online exhibitions, digital mapping, and computational analysis of text. No technical skills or experience in digital humanities work are required, but willingness to gain both are fundamental to the class.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 .
Instructor: Purcell
HIS 295-01 - Special Topic: The History of U.S.-Latin American Relations. 4 credits (Fall)
This class surveys the relations between the U.S. and Latin America from 1810 to the 1990s. The course provides an overview U.S. policy towards Latin America and how these relations shaped the region, but it also tries to demonstrate that Latin Americans also played a role in shaping hemispheric relations and that both sides were affected culturally and politically by this entangled history.
Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Silva
HIS 295-02 - Special Topic: Race, Gender, and Sexuality in Modern Germany 4 credits (Spring)
See GRM 295-02 .
HIS 295-02 - Special Topic: The Crusades in the Middle East 4 credits (fall)
See REL 295-02 .
HIS 295-03 - Special Topic: When the World Becomes Global: Early Modern Empire, Expansion, & Exchange 4 credits (Spring)
This course will explore how and why the world became integrated, interdependent, and ‘global’ through 1)processes of colonization and expansion; 2)the emergence of modern capitalist instruments and market; 3)intensified voluntary and forced migration; and 4)intellectual, cultural, scientific, and biological exchange. We will engage with scholarship that has redefined the field of world history by de-centering the role of Europe and distinguishing the heterogeneous imperialism of the early modern era from the Western hegemony of the nineteenth through the twentieth centuries.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 or second-year standing.
Instructor: Chou
HIS 295-04 - Special Topic: Islamic Empires 4 credits (Spring)
This class explores the history of and life in Islamic Empires. After a brief survey of the first Islamic Empires, we will focus on the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal Empires during the early modern and modern periods. Our explorations will center political and religious history, also incorporating intellectual history and cultural expression to gain an appreciation of the richness and diversity of Islamic Empires in the Middle East, South Asia, and the Mediterranean regions.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 or second-year standing.
Instructor: Saba
HIS 309-01 - Latin America and the U.S. 4 credits (Spring)
As the saying goes, Latin America lies too far from God and too close to the United States. This proximity has affected Latin American economics, demographics, culture, and politics. The seminar will begin with common readings. This year those common readings will focus on US attempts–both official and unofficial–to democratize and modernize the region. Students will then write a research paper using primary documents. These papers could focus on any one of a number of issues that were central to US-Latin American relations such as hemispheric security, economic affairs, democracy, and socialism. A reading knowledge of Spanish or Portuguese is helpful but not required.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 and HIS 201 or HIS 202 .
Instructor: Silva
HIS 322-01 - 20th Century American Sexualities 4 credits (Fall)
Students in this seminar will explore the history of sex and sexuality in the twentieth century United States. We will identify changes, contradictions, and continuities in sexual ideals as well as the even more complicated realities of Americans’ sexual experiences. Topics will include desire, pleasure, violence, marriage, dating, identity, laws, cultures, and more. Students will begin the semester by engaging in a close reading of historical texts, both primary and secondary, to establish a shared foundation in the historiography of this period. Students will conclude the semester by producing a 20-page research paper and a 15-minute presentation of their original historical research into this era. Shorter writing assignments will be completed throughout the semester. Students will be expected to mine digital archives as well as traditional collections in order to locate sufficient primary sources for their project.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 and HIS 222 , HIS 224 , or GWS 211 .
Instructor: Lewis
HIS 325-01 - American Indian Reservations 4 credits (Spring)
This course examines the history of American Indian reservations from the late-nineteenth century to the present. The common readings will introduce students to the origins and major historical problems of reservation history, especially the tricky task of defining the relationship between American Indian reservations and the United States. Specifically, we will examine the end of treaty-making between the United States and Indian tribes, allotment of Indian land, federal assimilation programs, boarding schools, the meaning of U.S. citizenship for Native peoples, and the opportunities and challenges of casinos.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 and any 200-level history course.
Instructor: Lacson
HIS 326-01 - 19th Century American Pop Culture 4 credits (Fall)
Students in this seminar will examine the creation and expansion of American popular culture in the nineteenth century as they focus on diverse cultural forms: dime novels, newspapers, music, sports, cartoons, material culture, theater, minstrel shows, magazines, etc. The seminar will focus particularly on how ideas and structures of race, class, and gender were changed and reinforced by American popular culture. Research papers will analyze popular culture in a historical context to consider how popular culture created or changed power dynamics in American society.
Prerequisite: Any 100-level history course or any 200-level American History course.
Instructor: Purcell
HIS 330-01 - Politics of Food in Early-Modern England 4 credits (Spring)
Through an examination of the conflicts surrounding the purchase, consumption, and production of food, as well as the processes by which food became politicized, classed, and gendered, this class offers a chronological and thematic look at the ‘century of revolutions’ in England beginning with Elizabeth I’s ‘second reign’ in 1590 and ending with the Act of Union in 1707. We will utilize case studies about food to explore how an early modern ‘moral economy’ and an ideology of governance centered on the person of the monarch gave way to a modern, commercialized economy and parliamentary politics. Students will develop a substantial research project over the course of the semester.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 and HIS 232 , HIS 233 , HIS 234 , or HIS-295 Global Cultural Encounters.
Instructor: Chou
HIS 334-01 - Decolonization 4 credits (Spring)
In the decades following the Second World War, the political status of more than a quarter of the world’s land mass and population was transformed from colonies into nation states with surprising speed and far-reaching ramifications. In this seminar we will explore some of the debates surrounding the timing, causality, character, and consequences of this phenomenon and consider how historical actors impacted and were impacted by the changing relationship of metropolitan centers and colonial peripheries. Themes will include anti-colonial nationalism; labor militancy; agrarian change; settler colonialism; migration and displacement; post-colonial identities; and the roots of global development. Common texts and student research projects will focus on the political, social, intellectual, and cultural dimensions of the end of empire in British Africa and South Asia, as well as in Britain itself; students with relevant background may also pursue a topic related to another national/geographic context.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 and HIS 235 , HIS 236 , HIS 261 , HIS 262 , or HIS 266 .
Instructor: Prevost
HIS 382 - Advanced Tutorial: Modern Classics of Historical Writing 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This course surveys of some great works of historical scholarship. It will be useful to students who are considering graduate studies, but it is intended for all students who would like to improve their ability to write analytically and argue persuasively. The course will be taught in Oxford tutorial style, in small group meetings with the instructor, and will involve frequent short writing assignments. It will also serve as useful preparation to all advanced seminars in history.
Prerequisite: Two 200-level History courses.
Note: This course does not satisfy research seminar requirement.
Instructor: Staff
HIS 382-01 - Advanced Tutorial: Modern Classics of Historical Writing 4 credits (Spring)
This course surveys of some great works of historical scholarship. It will be useful to students who are considering graduate studies, but it is intended for all students who would like to improve their ability to write analytically and argue persuasively. The course will be taught in Oxford tutorial style, in small group meetings with the instructor, and will involve frequent short writing assignments. It will also serve as useful preparation to all advanced seminars in history.
Prerequisite: Two 200-level History courses.
Instructor: Cohn
HIS 499 - Mentored Advanced Project 2 or 4 credits
A history MAP allows students to undertake advanced research and produce original knowledge on a topic of historical significance, and often follows work begun in a 300-level history seminar. To have their projects approved, students must demonstrate that they are already familiar with the most important scholarly works published in their proposed field of inquiry and identify the primary source base that will comprise the core of their research. MAP proposals, which should be submitted to the history department chair at least one week before they are due at the Office of the Registrar, must include an essay of 1,200–1,500 words to explain the historical problem to be investigated and the questions left open by existing research in the field, a bibliography detailed enough to demonstrate that the project is feasible, and the final form the project will take. With permission, the 499 may be used to fulfill the second 300-level requirement for the major, provided supervision takes place under a different professor than the student worked with in the other 300-level seminar, and the results are presented satisfactorily to a colloquium of students and faculty.
Prerequisite: See additional information on Mentored Advanced Projects.
Instructor: StaffHumanities
HUM 101 - Humanities I: The Ancient Greek World 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
A foundation for further study in the liberal arts, developing skills of critical reading, writing, and imaginative thinking through the study of selected works from ancient Greece. Readings include Homeric epic, tragic drama, Platonic dialogues, Thucydides’ History and Aristotle’s Poetics.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Staff
HUM 102 - Humanities II: Roman and Early Christian Culture 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Major works of Roman and early Christian culture, exploring private and public paths to happiness from Cicero’s ideal commonwealth to the City of God. Readings include Virgil’s Aeneid, Stoic and Epicurean philosophy, satire and drama, Christian scripture, St. Augustine, and Boethius. Emphasis on close reading, discussion, and short essay assignments.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Staff
HUM 140 - Medieval and Renaissance Culture: 1100–1650 4 credits (Spring)
Cross-listed as: SST 140 . This interdisciplinary course explores European culture and the social and political forces that shaped it between 1100 and 1650, paying special attention to feudalism and the Crusades, the intellectual efflorescence of the 12th and 13th centuries, the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the advent of the Scientific Revolution. In our exploration of medieval and Renaissance culture we will draw on art, science, literature, political theory, philosophy and theology, music, the writings of mystics, and advice manuals for heads of households and would-be courtiers.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Staff
HUM 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: Native American Performance: Playwrights + Mediamakers 4 credits (Spring)
See THD 195-01 .
HUM 195-02 - Introductory Special Topic: The Cypher Paradigm: Hip Hop, Education, Praxis & Action
See SST 195-01 or MUS 195-01 .
HUM 200 - Creative Careers: Learning from Alumni
See SST 200 .
HUM 251 - Theoretical Approaches to Children’s and Young Adult Literature 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Cross-listed as: GLS 251 . This course takes a theoretical approach to canonical and contemporary children’s literature. Content is variable, but may include The Young Adult Problem Novel, Dystopian Fiction for the Young Adult Reader, and Constructions of Race, Slavery, Class and Gender in Children’s and Young Adult Literature. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: A course in English or another course in literature.
Note: Foreign language available in Russian or French.
Instructor: Staff
HUM 251-01 - Theoretical Approaches to Children’s and Young Adult Literature 4 credits (Spring)
Cross-listed as: GLS 251-01 . In 2018, “Theoretical Approaches to Children’s and Young Adult Literature” will focus on American fantasy literature for children and teens, from A Wrinkle in Time and The Phantom Tollbooth to 21st-century successors. Particular attention will be paid to the hero’s journey and its relation to identity formation in these popular novels for young readers. Does the quest change when gender, ethnic, cultural, and sexual identities complicate the hero’s “call to adventure” and, if so, to what effect—for the child reader, society, and the genre?
Prerequisite: A course in English or another course in literature.
Instructor: Herold
HUM 295-01 - Special Topic: Politics of Human Thriving 2 credits (Fall)
Cross-listed as: SST 295-01 . What does it mean to live beyond mere existence–to thrive as a human being? This course, tied to the 2017-2018 Center for Humanities annual theme, the Politics of Human Thriving, will explore this question from a variety of perspectives. Topics throughout the year will include belongingness, sexual violence, race, gender, and the intersection of arts and activism. Students will read and discuss selections from visiting scholars and will attend related Human Center programming.
Prerequisite: None.
S/D/F only.
Instructor: Elfenbein
HUM 295-01 - Special Topic: Politics of Human Thriving 2 credits (Spring)
Cross-listed as: SST 295-01 . This 2017-2018 Humanities Center Seminar explores what it means to thrive—and who gets to decide—through a range of topics. In the fall this will include belonging and the intersection of race and sexual violence, and in the spring race, gender, and the intersection of the humanities and activism. Students will engage selections from visiting scholars and will attend related programming. The class meets irregularly throughout the semester based on the Center’s programming schedule.
Prerequisite: None.
S/D/F only
Instructor: Elfenbein
HUM 295-02 - Special Topic: Intersections of Religion, Self, and Society 2 credits (Spring)
See REL 295-02 or SST 295-02 .
HUM 295-02 - Special Topic: Mental Health Policy and Outreach 2 credits (Fall)
This course will examine specific issues in state and national mental health policy that are largely unknown or misunderstood by the public. We will learn how to use data analysis and digital humanities to prepare digital stories that are compelling and accessible for a general audience. Students will coordinate with Non-Profits to create materials such as brief videos, podcasts, and info-graphics, which can be disseminated through social media and traditional media outlets.
Prerequisite: Second-semester standing.
Note: Meets August 25 to October 13. 1/2 semester deadlines apply.
Instructor: Nyden
HUM 295-03 - Special Topic: Journal PublishingL Building Community in the Prairie Region 4 credits (Spring)
Cross-listed as: SST 295-03 . This course will engage students as editors, publishers and entrepreneurs in creating an issue or Rootstalk, an interdisciplinary journal examining life and culture in the prairie region. The class will gather students, Grinnell visiting alumni, faculty and staff mentors to move the Spring 2018 issue from concept through publication. We will also be leveraging the journal as a tool for community-building as a form of activism. We’ll explore various outreach methods, as well as adapting some of the tools of anthropological research to our purposes. No experience in publishing or community action is required, and the course may be repeated for credit.
Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
Instructor: Andelson, Baechtel
HUM 295-03 - Special Topic: The Open Door: An Introduction to Arabic Literature 2 credits (Fall)
The course will use literature (in translation) to explore cultural, political and social developments in the modern/contemporary Arab world. We will read a collection of translated works from different Arab authors, examining issues such as identity, feminism, alienation, and encounters with the West.
Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
Note: Dates: August 28 to October 9. Short course deadlines apply. Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Ramadan
HUM 295-04 - Special Topic: The Season of Migration to the North: Encountering the “Other” 2 credits (Spring)
This course will use literature (in translation) to explore literary expression and critique of the politica and social developments in the modern/contemporary Arab world through encounters with the “Other” – cultural or geographical. We will be engaging with various texts written by Arab authors who try to pose and answer questions about identity and belonging through encountering the “Other”.
Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
Note: Dates: April 2 through May 17. 1/2 semester deadlines apply.
Instructor: Ramadan
HUM 350 - Freedom and Authority: The Control of Reproduction 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Cross-listed as: SCI 350 and SST 350 . How do social, biological, and cultural constraints affect decisions about reproduction? How do social institutions set and enforce the boundaries of what is possible and permissible? How do practices of reproduction generate meaning for human existence? This seminar examines conflicts between the freedom of the individual to make decisions about reproduction and the internal and external authorities of biology, evolution, the family, the state, health care systems, criminal justice systems, and religious hierarchies.
Prerequisite: Third-year or senior standing and completion of a four-credit course at the 200 level or above creditable to a major in the division of registration.
Note: Not offered every year
Instructor: StaffLatin American Studies
LAS 111 - Introduction to Latin American Studies 4 credits (Spring)
This discussion-based, interdisciplinary Latin American studies course approaches “culture” broadly to include a wide spectrum of everyday experiences, and provides students with a solid foundation for subsequent academic work in the region. The course begins with an overview of definitions of “Latin America” and of its current state as an object of interdisciplinary study, and then explores contemporary issues (i.e. state repression, human rights, immigration) via various disciplines (humanities and social sciences) and genres (i.e., academic essays, narrative journalism, testimonio).
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Aparicio, Benoist
LAS 221 - Introduction to U.S. Latin@ Studies 4 credits (Fall)
This interdisciplinary course explores the varied historical, cultural, and political experiences of Latin@ in the United States. Some of the main organizing themes include immigration and the construction of immigrant-based communities and identities, gender and sexuality, racial/ethnic constructions, language, and popular culture and media representations. In an effort to place the experience of diverse Latin@ populations in social, political, historical, and cultural/national perspectives, students will review a wide variety of readings and conduct their own research projects. Taught in English.
Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Petrus
LAS 499 - Senior Research 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
An interdisciplinary senior research project for students completing the concentration in Latin American Studies. Credits earned each semester must fulfill program requirements as specified in program description. May be repeated in consecutive semesters by a student pursuing a single research project.
Prerequisite: Permission of the concentration committee required.
See additional information on Mentored Advanced Projects.
Instructor: Staff Linguistics
LIN 114 - Introduction to General Linguistics 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
What is language and how is it studied scientifically? This survey course provides an introduction to the core subfields of linguistics - phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics - and how these areas integrate with one another in the study of language and society, language acquisition, language technologies, and language change. Our goal is to determine what it means to ‘know’ a language and to examine how language is acquired, produced, and processed.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Staff
LIN 205 - Computational Linguistics 4 credits (Fall)
See CSC 205 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
LIN 216 - Syntax 4 credits (Spring)
This course investigates the syntax of human language, or the portion of language knowledge that deals with the structure and word order of sentences. We will examine the ways in which we can create scientific models to explain these structures, and we will attempt to use these models to make predictions about the representation of language in the mind.
Prerequisite: LIN 114 .
Instructor: Hansen
LIN 250 - Language Contact 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
See ANT 250 .
LIN 270 - Indo-European Language and Culture 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
See CLS 270 .
LIN 295-01 - Special Topic: Choreolinguistics: Bridging the Art and Scienceof Language and the Body 2 credits (Spring)
Cross-listed as: THD 295-01 . This course explores the ways that the disciplines of Choreography and Linguistics create a theory and share that theory with others. Specifically, we will be asking: What are the meaningful units in language and dance? How do we identify them? What is their underlying structure? What characteristics do we use to recognize and identify them? And how do we put them together into larger units and use them to communicate.
Prerequisite: LIN 114 , LIN 216 , THD 113 , or THD 225 .
Note: Dates: January 29 to March 14. No class on February 5 or March 5. 1/2 semester deadlines apply.
Instructor: Hansen, Miller
LIN 295-02 - Special Topic: Phonolgy: The Case of Japanese 4 credits (Spring)
See JPN 295-01 or EAS 295-03 .
LIN 317 - Language Change 4 credits (Spring)
This course investigates the nature of language change and the principles developed by linguistics to account for these changes. We will examine the various domains in which change occurs (phonological, morphological, syntactic, and lexical/semantic), and the social and linguistic motivations for change. The course will address the methods used to determine the earlier profile of a language or its parent language; students will use these methods in their own research projects.
Prerequisite: LIN 216 , LIN 295-Lingustic Typology (offered Fall 2014), or LIN 270 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Hansen
LIN 397 - Independent Study 2 credits
(see Courses of Study: Individual Study )
LIN 499 - Senior Research Project: Mentored Advanced Project 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
An interdisciplinary senior research project for students completing the concentration in linguistics. Besides the principal mentor, there will be one or, upon recommendation of the concentration committee, two additional readers. A public presentation is required for it to be counted as an advanced core requirement.
Prerequisite: See additional information on Mentored Advanced Projects.
Instructor: StaffMathematics and Statistics
MAT 115 - Introduction to Statistics 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
Cross-listed as: SST 115 . Introduces the notions of variability and uncertainty and such common statistical concepts as point and interval estimation and hypothesis testing. Data-oriented, with real-world examples chosen from the social and biological sciences. The computer is used for data analysis and to illustrate probabilistic and statistical concepts. A student who takes MAT-115 cannot receive credit for MAT 209 .
Prerequisite: Two years of high school algebra and second semester of first-year standing.
Instructor: Staff
MAT 123 - Functions and Differential Calculus 4 credits (Fall)
An introductory course in mathematics and the first in a two-course sequence. This first semester is an introduction to the differential calculus of functions of one variable with an extensive review of precalculus topics such as algebra and functions. This review, together with an emphasis on developing problem-solving skills, is designed to help students learn to do mathematics at the college level. MAT 123-MAT 124 has the same calculus content as MAT 131 .
Prerequisite: Two years of high school algebra.
Instructor: Staff
MAT 124 - Functions and Integral Calculus 4 credits (Spring)
A continuation of MAT 123 . An introduction to the integral calculus of functions of one variable. Topics include the definite integral, techniques of integration, and applications of the integral. Successful completion of this course prepares students for MAT 133 .
Prerequisite: MAT 123 .
Instructor: Staff
MAT 131 - Calculus I 4 credits (Fall)
The first in a two-course sequence. An introduction to the differential and integral calculus of functions of one variable. Also introduces a few concepts and methods of differential equations.
Prerequisite: Good preparation, including trigonometry, or departmental placement.
Instructor: Staff
MAT 133 - Calculus II 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
A continuation of MAT 131 . Topics include functions of more than one variable: partial and total derivatives, multiple integrals, vector-valued functions, and parametrized curves. Additional topics may include applications to differential equations, line integrals, and Green’s Theorem.
Prerequisite: Mathematics MAT 124 or MAT 131 .
Instructor: Staff
MAT 208 - Discrete Structures 4 credits (Spring)
See CSC 208 .
MAT 209 - Applied Statistics 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
The course covers the application of basic statistical methods such as univariate graphics and summary statistics, basic statistical inference for one and two samples, linear regression (simple and multiple), one- and two-way ANOVA, and categorical data analysis. Students use statistical software to analyze data and conduct simulations. A student who takes Mathematics 209 cannot receive credit for MAT 115 .
Prerequisite: MAT 124 or MAT 131 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Staff
MAT 215 - Linear Algebra 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
A unified study of the concepts underlying linear systems and linear transformations and of the techniques for using them. Topics: matrix algebra, rank, orthogonality, vector spaces and dimension, eigenvectors and eigenvalues. Typical applications: fitting lines and curves to data, Markov processes, linear differential equations.
Prerequisite: MAT 133 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Staff
MAT 218 - Discrete Bridges to Advanced Mathematics 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
Discrete Bridges to Advanced Mathematics courses prepare students for the 300-level foundations courses through careful attention to mathematical proof writing and creative problem solving. Skill building is a fundamental component: skills include working with fundamental tools of logic to write convincing arguments, grappling deeply with difficult mathematical problems, and reading upper-level undergraduate mathematical texts. Math 218 addresses counting techniques and other discrete topics needed for computer science. May be repeated once for credit when content changes with permission of instructor. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: MAT 215 .
Instructor: Staff
MAT 218-01 - Discrete Bridges to Adv Mathematics: Graph Theory 4 credits (Spring)
A graph consists of a set of vertices and a set of edges - you can draw a graph simply by placing some dots on a page to represent vertices, and then connecting certain pairs of dots with lines to represent the edges. Graphs are useful for understanding any kind of networks - the internet itself could be viewed as a graph, with links between pages representing edges; in fact Google’s PageRank algorithm makes heavy use of ideas from graph theory. In this course, we will use graphs as a means to develop problem solving skills and to improve our ability to construct logical mathematical arguments. After beginning with basic topics including the chromatic number, planarity, trees, Euler circuits, and Hamiltonian cycles.
Prerequisite: MAT 215 .
Instructor: Uzzell
MAT 218-01 - Discrete Bridges to Advanced Mathematics: Graph Theory 4 credits (Fall)
Graph Theory. A graph consists of a set of vertices and a set of edges - you can draw a graph simply by placing some dots on a page to represent vertices, and then connecting certain pairs of dots with lines to represent the edges. Graphs are useful for understanding any kind of networks - the internet itself could be viewed as a graph, with links between pages representing edges; in fact Google’s PageRank algorithm makes heavy use of ideas from graph theory. In this course, we will use graphs as a means to develop problem solving skills and to improve our ability to construct logical mathematical arguments. After beginning with basic topics including the chromatic number, planarity, trees, Euler circuits, and Hamiltonian paths, we will move on to more advanced topics in which we apply techniques from Linear Algebra, such as eigenvalues and inner products, to obtain deeper and less intuitive results about graphs.
Prerequisite: MAT 215 .
Instructor: C. French
MAT 218-02 - Discrete Bridges to Advanced Mathematics: Number Theory 4 credits (Fall)
Number Theory. This course will provide an introduction to fundamental concepts in number theory. Time permitting, we will study: natural numbers and divisibility, linear equations, basic properties of prime numbers, modular arithmetic and congruences, Fermat’s Little Theorem, Euler’s Theorem, public key cryptography, primitive roots, and quadratic reciprocity. Among core goals of this course is to practice, and improve, the communication of rigorous mathematical arguments.
Prerequisite: MAT 215 .
Instructor: M. Ortz
MAT 220 - Differential Equations 4 credits (Spring)
First and second order differential equations; series solutions and Fourier series; linear and nonlinear systems of differential equations; applications.
Prerequisite: MAT 215 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Staff
MAT 222 - Bridges to Advanced Mathematics 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Bridges to Advanced Mathematics courses prepare students for 300-level foundations courses through careful attention to mathematical proof writing and creative problem solving. Skill building is a fundamental component: skills include working with fundamental tools of logic to write convincing arguments, grappling deeply with difficult mathematical problems, and reading upper-level undergraduate mathematics texts. May be repeated once for credit when content changes with permission of instructor. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: MAT 215 .
Instructor: Staff
MAT 222-01 - Bridges to Advanced Mathematics: Differential Geometry 4 credits (Spring)
Einstein showed that gravity may be viewed as curvature of space-time. Curvature makes sense when we view a surface from outside, but how can we understand or study curvature from within a space? This course will introduce the tools mathematicians use for such study, and will thus serve as the mathematical background needed for understanding General Relativity. Topics will include tangent spaces and vector fields, differential forms, tensors, Lie Derivatives, geodesics, and the Riemannian connection.
Prerequisite: MAT 215 .
Instructor: French
MAT 271 - Problem-Solving Seminar 1 credits (Fall)
Students solve challenging mathematics problems and present solutions. Prepares students to take the Putnam Examination, if they wish. May be repeated for credit.
Prerequisite or co-requisite: Completion of, or concurrent registration in
S/D/F only.
Instructor: Staff
MAT 295-01 - Special Topic: Introduction to Data Science 4 credits (Fall)
This course introduces core topics in data science using R programming. This includes introductions to getting and cleaning data, data management, exploratory data analysis, reproducible research, and data visualization. This course incorporates case studies from multiple disciplines and emphasizes the importance of properly communicating statistical ideas.
Prerequisite: MAT 209 . Suggested: CSC 151 or computer programming experience.
Instructor: Jonkman, Kuiper
MAT 295-01 & 02 - Special Topic: Introduction to Data Science 4 credits (Spring)
This course introduces core topics in data science using R programming. This includes introductions to getting and cleaning data, data management, exploratory data analysis, reproducible research, and data visualization. This course incorporates case studies from multiple disciplines and emphasizes the importance of properly communicating statistical ideas.
Prerequisite: MAT 209 . Suggested CSC 151 or computer programming experience.
Instructor: Kuiper, Jonkman
MAT 306 - Mathematical Modeling 4 credits (Spring)
An introduction to the process and techniques of modeling “real-world” situations, using topics from linear algebra and differential equations. Appropriate mathematics, including numerical methods, developed when needed. Models drawn from both the social and natural sciences.
Prerequisite: MAT 220 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year. Offered in alternate years.
Instructor: Staff
MAT 309 - Design and Analysis of Experiments 4 credits (Spring)
In addition to a short review of hypothesis testing, confidence intervals, and 1-way ANOVA, this course incorporates experiments from several disciplines to explore design and analysis techniques. Topics include factorial designs, block designs (including latin square and split plot designs), random, fixed, and mixed effects models, crossed and nested factors, contrasts, checking assumptions, and proper analysis when assumptions are not met.
Prerequisite: MAT 209 or MAT 336 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year. Offered in alternate years.
Instructor: Staff
MAT 310 - Statistical Modeling 4 credits (Fall)
This course will focus on investigative statistics labs emphasizing the process of data collection and data analysis relevant for science, social science, and mathematics students. This course incorporates case studies from current events and interdisciplinary research, taking a problem-based approach to learn how to determine which statistical techniques are appropriate. Topics will typically include nonparametric tests, designing an experiment, and generalized linear models.
Prerequisite: MAT 209 or MAT 336 .
Instructor: Staff
MAT 314 - Topics in Applied Mathematics 4 credits (Spring)
Topics include, but are not limited to, one of the following: Chaos and Fractals (one- and two-dimensional discrete dynamics, iterated function systems, fractal dimension), Fourier Analysis (fast Fourier transform, Fourier series, wavelets), or Partial Differential Equations (heat and wave equation, eigenfunction expansions). May be repeated for credit when content changes. For current course content see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: Varies depending on topic.
Note: Plus-2 option available. Offered in alternate years.
Instructor: Staff
MAT 316 - Foundations of Analysis 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
A thorough study of the topology of the real line and of limits of functions of one real variable. This theory is then used to develop the theory of the derivative and integral of functions of one real variable and also sequences and series of real numbers and functions.
Prerequisite: MAT 218 or MAT 222 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Staff
MAT 317 - Advanced Topics in Analysis 4 credits (Fall)
Analysts seek to understand mathematical entities, such as numbers, vectors, and functions, through approximation, convergence, and representation. This approach has yielded important insights in pure mathematics, in areas like differential equations, geometry, and number theory, as well asapplications in areas like signal processing, data analysis, and quantum theory. This course will build on the foundations of analysis, exploring an advanced topic in this area. The course will regularly provide an opportunity to pursue research. May be repeated for credit when content changes. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: MAT 316 .
Instructor: Staff
MAT 317-01 - Advanced Topics in Analysis: Complex Analysis 4 credits (Fall)
Theory of analytic functions of a complex variable. Students will pursue an independent project in analytic number theory or iterated function systems.
Prerequisite: MAT 316 .
Instructor: Shuman
MAT 321 - Foundations of Abstract Algebra 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
The study of algebraic structures, with emphasis on formal systems such as groups, rings, and fields.
Prerequisite: MAT 218 or MAT 222 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Staff
MAT 322 - Advanced Topics in Algebra 4 credits (Spring)
Algebraists study sets with operations, such as matrices under addition and multiplication. Algebraic structures are central in modern mathematics, arising in areas like number theory and combinatorics, topology and geometry, and also finding applications in fields like cryptography and coding theory - even data analysis and music theory. This course will build on the foundations of abstract algebra, exploring an advanced topic in this area. The course will regularly provide an opportunity to pursue research. May be repeated for credit when content changes. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: MAT 321 .
Instructor: Staff
MAT 322-01 - Advanced Topics in Algebra: Field Theory 4 credits (Spring)
The study of fields, algebraic extensions, finite and cyclotomic fields, geometric constructions and Galois Theory.
Prerequisite: MAT 321 .
Instructor: Wolf
MAT 335 - Probability and Statistics I 4 credits (Fall)
An introduction to the mathematical theory of probability and statistical inference. Discrete and continuous distributions, as well as sampling distributions and the limit theorems of probability, will be introduced. The importance of randomization and simulation for computing statistical probabilities will be explored.
Prerequisite: MAT 215 ; and MAT 209 , or MAT 218 , or MAT 220 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Staff
MAT 336 - Probability and Statistics II 4 credits (Spring)
A systematic treatment of mathematical statistics based on probability theory. Topics will include: principles of estimation and hypothesis testing, chi-square tests, linear models including regression and analysis of variance, and nonparametric inference. A variety of applications will be considered.
Prerequisite: MAT 335 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Staff
MAT 395-01 - Advanced Special Topic: Applied Data Science 4 credits (Spring)
Students will work in small teams on an applied data science project completing the full spectrum of the data science process including developing the problem statement, collecting and processing data, implementing the quantitative methods in an appropriate programming environment, and generating conclusions supported by data.
Prerequisite: CSC 207 and MAT 306 , MAT 310 or MAT 295 Intro to Data Science
Instructor: Blanchard
MAT 444 - Senior Seminar 4 credits (Spring)
Advanced course with varying content. Strongly recommended for students considering further work in mathematics and statistics. May be repeated for credit when content changes. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: Will vary depending on topic.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Staff
MAT 444-01 - Senior Seminar: Bayesian Statistical Analysis 4 credits (Spring)
The debate between classical (or “frequentist”) statisticians and “Bayesian” statisticians has produced controversy, and sometimes surprising levels of animosity, for decades. Recent advances in computing have revolutionized statistical practice by making it easier to obtain Bayesian solutions to complicated problems, which in turn has helped unify the statistical community. This course will introduce the differences and underlying similarities between classical and Bayesian methods. Students will learn the basics of Bayesian analysis using R and JAGS software, and see how Bayesian methods have revolutionized the use of statistics in fields such as medicine, environmental studies, political science, and genetics. We will also explore advanced topics, such as hierarchical models and meta-analysis, which are particularly well suited to a Bayesian approach.
Prerequisite: MAT 335 . MAT 309 or MAT 310 with permission of instructor.
Instructor: JonkmanMusic
MUS 101 - Practicum: Performance Ensembles 1 credits (Fall and Spring)
The study of musical repertory, technique, and expression through regular ensemble rehearsals and public performances. One credit is awarded for each participation in a musical organization directed by the department. Does not count toward music major, but music majors are expected to participate in a department ensemble for at least two semesters. Practicum may be repeated for credit.
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.
Note: All participants in musical ensembles are required by the Registrar to register for the course, either for credit (1 cr) or for audit (0 cr) (Please note: credits earned in MUS 101 are NOT counted in the number of credits that determine whether a student is liable for an “overload” fee). Students registering as an audit should use the current degree-seeking Audit Registration Form. Faculty, staff, and community should use the non-degree-seeking students Audit Registration Form. A maximum of eight practicum credits may count toward graduation. Credits in Music 101, 120, 122, 220, 221, and 420 may not exceed a total of six in any one semester. Students should note that Music 101, 120, 122, 220, 221, 320, and 420 are included in the 48-credit maximum in the department. S/D/F only.
Instructor: Staff
MUS 101-02 - Oratorio Society 1 credits (Fall and Spring)
Singing in the Oratorio Society is an excellent way to develop your musical skills, and once you have refined those skills in singing, in listening to others, in reading pitches and rhythms, choral singing can be a rewarding activity for your entire lifetime. The Oratorio Society draws together students, faculty, and staff of the college, people from the town of Grinnell, and nearby cities such as Newton and Malcolm. In recent years, the Oratorio Society has performed many of the masterpieces from the choral literature, such as the Brahms Requiem, Mozart’s Requiem and Grand Mass in C Minor, Beethoven’s Mass in C Major, Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, Bach’s Magnificat, Verdi’s Requiem, and Britten’s monumental War Requiem. In addition to performing these major works, the choir also has expanded its activity beyond the confines of classical music. In the spring of 2012, for example, the Oratorio Society participated in thrilling performances of Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concerts, in collaboration with the Grinnell Jazz Ensemble. In the 2012-13 season, we presented The World Beloved: A Bluegrass Mass, by Carol Barnett, in collaboration with an outstanding bluegrass string band from Minneapolis, Monroe Crossing, and Orff’s Carmina Burana, in collaboration with the Grinnell Singers, Grinnell Symphony, and Ottumwa Symphony. Originally founded in 1901, the Grinnell Oratorio Society was, in the early decades of the 20th Century, one of Iowa’s most auspicious musical institutions. Edward Scheve (1865-1924), a composer of symphonies, concertos, oratorios, and chamber music, established the choir as an outgrowth of the music conservatory that was then part of Grinnell College.
Prerequisite: None.
S/D/F only.
Instructor: Rommereim
MUS 101-03 - Collegium Musicum 1 credits (Fall and Spring)
The Collegium Musicum is dedicated to the performance of Early Music (the Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, & Classical periods of Western European music history) using historically appropriate techniques and instruments. It provides a hands-on way of learning about music history, exploring the beautiful but less often heard music of earlier periods while developing aural skills such as sight-reading. The ensemble includes both singers and instrumentalists, divided into several groups according to repertoire and experience level. Each group meets for approximately one hour per week. Instrumentalists perform on the College’s outstanding collection of replica period instruments. Since many of these are ancestors of modern instruments, students can often transfer their knowledge of modern technique fairly easily. Both group and individual instruction is provided.
Prerequisite: Ability to read music notation; no prior knowledge of Early Music required. Audition required.
S/D/F only.
Instructor: Brown
MUS 101-04 - Grinnell Singers 1 credits (Fall and Spring)
The Grinnell Singers is a select ensemble that performs distinguished choral music from a wide variety of traditions, with repertoire that spans five centuries – from Brahms to Bluegrass, from Renaissance England to twenty-first century New York. Each year brings new, adventurous projects. Highlights for 2012-13 included: hosting one of Cuba’s foremost professional choirs, performing Carol Barnett’s celebrated Bluegrass Mass, traveling on a Spring-Break tour to Chicago, Ann Arbor, Toronto, Montreal, Boston, and New York, and participating in Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana. This year’s season will include a collaboration The Lyra Consort, a professional period-instrument orchestra from Minneapolis, in a performance of Handel’s oratorio, Esther. The ensemble has also commissioned major composers, including Pulitzer Prize winner Steven Stucky and, in 2012, the rising star Mohammed Fairouz. For more enterprising musicians, the ensemble affords excellent opportunities for leadership. The assistant conductor and section leaders play important roles, and thereby the students gain valuable experience in conducting and rehearsal management. An elected choir council actively shapes the choir’s work. In addition to their ambitious musical activities, the Grinnell Singers pursue service projects, and they aspire to create a supportive, cohesive organization that serves as a positive force both for its members and for the community at large.
Prerequisite: Ability to read music notation. Audition required.
S/D/F only.
Instructor: Rommereim
MUS 101-06 - Grinnell Symphony Orchestra (Fall and Spring)
The Grinnell Symphony Orchestra is a full symphonic ensemble comprised of student musicians representing all disciplines within the college who are unified by a love of music and a dedication to the art of orchestral performance. The GSO typically gives from five to seven performances each season, including a wide range of music from the Baroque era to the 21st Century. Full orchestra rehearsals are held on Monday and Wednesday afternoons and one-hour sectional rehearsals for strings, woodwinds, and brass are held on Wednesday evenings. Woodwind, brass, and percussion players are often only needed in rehearsal for a portion of the rehearsal time each week. Specific schedules are distributed at the beginning of each week
Prerequisite: Ability to read music notation. Audition required.
S/D/F only.
Instructor: McIntyre
MUS 101-07 - Latin American Ensemble 1 credits (Fall and Spring)
The Latin American Ensemble of Grinnell College was founded in the fall of 2001. Primarily comprised of college students, the Ensemble has performed a variety of styles of latin music including bolero, bossa nova, cha cha cha, tango, and Brazilian folk song. In addition to the end-of-semester concerts, the ensemble has performed for a variety of local organizations: as part of “cruise night” at the retirement and nursing home community; as a complement to a Brazilian art exhibit at the Faulconer Gallery; for the Cinco de Mayo celebration at a local restaurant; and as part of the annual talent show organized by the College’s International Student Organization.
Prerequisite: Ability to read music notation (except for singers/percussionists). Audition required.
S/D/F only.
Instructor: Espinosa
MUS 101-08 - Percussion, Marimba, and Steel Pan Ensemble 1 credits (Fall and Spring)
The Grinnell Percussion, Marimba, and Steel Pan Ensemble is dedicated to exploring the world of music through the eyes of percussion. Grinnell is home to one of the largest and most diverse collections of percussion instruments in the country. Beyond standard concert percussion instruments like marimba and xylophone, instruments from Brazil, to Ghana, to Trinidad can be found at Grinnell. It is because of this extensive collection of instruments that the ensemble has the ability to perform a wide variety of music. Whether performing a Bach Chorale transcribed for Marimba, an avant-garde work written for percussion by John Cage, a Bob Marley classic on the sweet sound of Steel Pans, or a Radiohead tune completely played on percussion instruments, there is something for everyone in this ensemble. The ensemble meets every Tuesday from 7-9 p.m. in BCA 103 and culminates in a concert at the end of the semester. Under new direction as of the fall 2012 semester, the ensemble expects to grow, developing a presence on campus and in the community. No previous experience in percussion or reading musical notation is required, although it is strongly encouraged that those with no experience consider pairing this ensemble with a weekly private lesson (MUS 120-08) to help further enrich your experience.
Prerequisite: No previous musical experience required. No audition required.
S/D/F only.
Instructor: Bostwick
MUS 101-09 - Fresh Flute Ensemble 1 credits (Fall and Spring)
Fresh Flutes at Grinnell is one of the Music Department’s small ensembles open to intermediate and advanced flutists. The ensemble plays music for multiple flutes (piccolo, C flute, alto, and bass) that comes from all musical styles and eras. Our musical goal is to expand your knowledge of repertoire and extend your playing skills: this includes improving traditional tone and technical playing as well as acquiring contemporary or extended techniques on the instrument. Development as chamber musicians is a high priority in the group. Skills include increased sensitivity to listening, adjusting to ongoing ideas coming from each member, flexibility in moving from one type of flute to another, and understanding how to contribute individual abilities to create a musical and social whole that transcends each person. We perform at least one concert per semester, with combinations of duo, trio, quartet, quintet, and the entire ensemble. Repertoire ranges from Boismortier to Ian Clarke, Derek Charke, Cynthia Folio and other contemporary composers; we also feature works composed for the group by Grinnell faculty and students. Fresh Flutes meets officially once a week for 1 hr 30 minutes, and outside this time for independently arranged sessions with the smaller groups. The College has a collection of instruments that ensemble members may borrow free of charge. Fresh Flutes is a wonderful place to explore challenging music but is also a special community to bond with and find your identity as a flutist at Grinnell.
Prerequisite: Fluent in reading music. Audition required.
S/D/F only.
Instructor: Anderson
MUS 101-10 - YGB Gospel Choir 1 credits (Fall and Spring)
The Young, Gifted and Black Gospel Choir, open to students of all backgrounds, has a 45-year history on the Grinnell campus. The name of the choir was taken from a work entitled “To Be Young, Gifted, and Black” by the famous black writer Lorraine Hansberry. The choir has members from many different cultures, nationalities, and races, using diversity as a bond. YGB strives to create a place where “men will judge men by their souls, and not by their skins” (W.E.B. DuBois), while continuing the tradition of celebrating Black American culture through Gospel Music. Through a bond of “cultural uniformity,” the choir ministers to a variety of audiences with a wide selection of sacred music, including spirituals and traditional and contemporary gospel. The group sings for the monthly Black Church services at Herrick Chapel. It also performs concerts around campus; its 2012 tour included churches in Iowa, Illinois, Mississippi, and Texas.
Prerequisite: No previous musical experience required. No audition required.
S/D/F only.
Instructor: Jones
MUS 101-14 - Chamber Ensembles 1 credits (Fall and Spring)
Chamber Ensembles at Grinnell College explore music composed for small groups, performed without a conductor. Many composers from Mozart and Beethoven to Shostakovic and Philip Glass, have written some of their best compositions for small ensembles. String quartets and piano trios form the core of the repertoire, but there are many other possible combinations of strings, keyboards, and winds. Each player has an individual part and learns to be musically independent, while also being sensitive to the others in the group. Weekly coachings are supplemented by independent rehearsals, and culminate in two or more performances each semester. Visiting artists, such as the Pacifica, Brentano, American and St. Lawrence string quartets, give outstanding master classes.
Prerequisite: Ability to read music notation. Audition required.
S/D/F only.
Instructor: N. Gaub
MUS 101-17 - Jazz Ensemble 1 credits (Fall and Spring)
The Grinnell Jazz Ensemble is open to instrumentalists (and occasionally vocalists) who are interested in the study and performance of jazz works from the large ensemble tradition. The ensemble performs music from a wide variety of jazz-related styles, and frequently performs works by both veteran and contemporary jazz composers. Past concerts have included compositions by composers such as Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Sammy Nestico, Miles Davis, and Charles Mingus, Maria Schneider, Gordon Goodwin, Thad Jones and Oliver Nelson.Visiting artists, such as Matt Harris and Marcus Belgrave, give outstanding master classes and clinics.
Prerequisite: Ability to read music notation, competency on chosen instrument, and prior experience with jazz music. Audition required.
Note: The group rehearses 4 hours weekly and customarily performs twice per semester. S/D/F only.
Instructor: Espinosa
MUS 101-18 - Ugandan Music and Dance Ensemble 1 credits (Fall and Spring)
In this ensemble, students explore the instrumental music, song traditions, and dances of Uganda. The East African nation is home to many instruments, including various strings, a lamellophone with metal keys struck with the thumbs, windblown flutes and horns, drums, and gourd rattles. Aural instruction will not rely on written music, but will instead emphasize listening, energetic response, and group interdependence. The ensemble will support solo opportunities for students who wish to pursue them. Repertories range from children’s songs to the court music of Buganda kingdom in southern-central Uganda to the devotional music of kubandwa/kusamira, a widespread genre of spiritual healing in the “Great Lakes” region of East Africa. Many of these repertories include colorful dances, so we welcome dancers to experience and shape this ensemble’s highly interactive dynamic. Learning Ugandan musical traditions enriches our understanding of this region’s internal diversity through direct experience with the beauty and power of African music.
S/D/F only.
Instructor: Hoesing
MUS 101-19 - Symphonic Concert Band 1 credits (Fall and Spring)
The Grinnell Symphonic Band is open to instrumentalists who are interested in the study and performance of the wind band medium in the large ensemble tradition. The group performs music from a wide variety of styles by both national and international composers. The band strives to develop advanced techniques of musical expression and interpretation. Past concerts have included works by composers such as Percy Grainger, Gustav Holst, Ralph Vaughan Williams, John Philip Sousa, Eric Whitacre, Alfred Reed, Giovanni Gabrieli, Norman Dello Joio, Karl King, John Williams, and Felix Mendelssohn.
Prerequisite: Ability to read music notation, competency on chosen instrument, and prior experience with concert music. No audition required.
Note: The group rehearses Monday evenings: 7:00-9:00 pm and customarily performs twice per semester. S/D/F only.
Instructor: Lutch
MUS 101-20 - Zimbabwean Mbira Ensemble 1 credits (Fall and Spring)
The mbira is a handheld instrument with metal keys struck with the thumbs and right index finger played in the Shona community of Zimbabwe. In our ensemble, students will focus on instrumental instruction, but will also learn how to sing in the appropriate style and play the hosho, a set of gourd rattles, as their interests take them. There is no written music and everything is learned aurally. The primary goal is to learn the specifics of technique and style for this instrument and to play as a group. The mbira is a participatory instrument and is rarely performed solo, thus the rewards of collective music-making are emphasized. The mbira repertoire is a rich body of songs dedicated to the ancestral spirits for whom they are played. Learning the mbira with others can be a rewarding musical and social experience that will hopefully last longer than your College career.
Prerequisite: No previous musical experience required. No audition required.
S/D/F only.
Instructor: Perman
MUS 109 - Music Fundamentals 2 credits (Fall)
Teaches the basics of music notation (including reading and writing in treble and bass clef) and music fundamentals (including scales and intervals); also develops complementary aural skills. Includes aural and written exercises and creative projects in performance and composition. Prepares students to enroll in MUS 112 . Also recommended for those enrolling in music lessons and ensembles.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Cha, Loeb
MUS 110 - Introduction to Western Music 4 credits (Fall)
A survey of Western art music from Gregorian chant to postmodernism, intended to enrich and inform listening experience. Examination of musical elements including rhythm, melody, and texture; and consideration of stylistic eras, representative composers, major genres, and forms. Emphasis on developing critical listening skills.
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: E. Gaub, Loeb
MUS 111 - Aural Skills I 1 credits (Fall and Spring)
Development of aural understanding through singing, dictation, conducting, and improvisation. Topics include identification and singing of diatonic intervals and triads, singing of diatonic melodies using “moveable do” solfège, notation of diatonic melodies and chord progressions by dictation, improvisation of short melodic patterns, and basic conducting patterns.
Prerequisite: None. Normally taken in conjunction with MUS 112 , this course may also be taken separately.
Instructor: Loeb
MUS 112 - Music Theory I 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
The study of how individual chords are combined to create a piece of tonal music. Focuses on developing the ear and analytical/creative skills to enhance appreciation, performance, and compositional imitation of Western music of the 18th and 19th centuries. Required keyboard lab meets outside regular class time. Students enrolling in MUS 112 should be able to read and write music notation fluently in both treble and bass clefs and have a working knowledge of intervals, scales, triads, and major/minor keys. All students wishing to take MUS-112 must take the Music Theory Placement Test offered before the beginning of each semester.
Co-requisite: MUS-112 Lab
Prerequisite or co-requisite: MUS 111 .
Instructor: Cha, E. Gaub
MUS 116 - Music, Culture, Context 4 credits (Spring)
This course explores our globalized musical present and the major forces (social, political, economic, technological) that have shaped it over the last few centuries. Attention is focused on music-making as a form of human activity within and between cultures. Course content ranges over musics of diverse times and places. No prior experience in music is needed.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Perman
MUS 120 - Performance: Private Instruction 1 credits (Fall and Spring)
Private lessons in instrumental or vocal music, intended for beginning to intermediate students. Weekly 30-minute private lessons totaling seven hours of instruction per semester. Practice expectation: minimum of 30 minutes per day. One credit for each area studied, e.g., voice, piano, flute, etc. May be repeated for credit.
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Credits earned for music lessons are NOT counted in the number of credits that determine whether a student is liable for an “overload” fee (over 18 credits). A maximum of 16 credits in Music 120, 122, 220, 221, 320, and 420 will count toward graduation. Credits in Music 101, 120, 122, 220, 221, 320, and 420 may not exceed a total of six in any one semester. Students should note that Music 101, 120, 122, 220, 221, 320, and 420 are included in the 48-credit maximum in the department.
Instructor: Staff
MUS 122 - Performance: Group Instruction 1 credits (Fall and Spring)
Group lessons in instrumental, vocal music, world hand drumming, flute, etc. intended for beginning to intermediate students. Weekly 60-minute small-group lessons totaling 14 hours of instruction per semester. Practice expectation: minimum of 30 minutes per day. One credit for each area studied, e.g., world hand drumming, flute, etc. Does not count toward the music major. May be repeated for credit.
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Credits earned for music lessons are NOT counted in the number of credits that determine whether a student is liable for an “overload” fee (over 18 credits). A maximum of 16 credits in Music 120, 122, 220, 221, 320, and 420 will count toward graduation. Credits in Music 101, 120, 122, 220, 221, 320, and 420 may not exceed a total of six in any one semester. Students should note that Music 101, 120, 122, 220, 221, 320, and 420 are included in the 48-credit maximum in the department.
Instructor: Staff
MUS 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: The Cypher Paradigm: Hip Hop, Education, Praxis & Action
See SST 195-01 and HUM 195-02 .
MUS 201 - Topics in Music and Culture 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Detailed study of the relationship between music and a particular aspect of culture. Possible areas to be covered include music and ritual, music and language, music and technology, music and politics, gender and music, and mythology and music. May be repeated for credit if content changes. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: Consult registration materials for prerequisites.
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Staff
MUS 201-01 - Topics in Music & Culture: Music, Mind and Brain 4 credits (Fall)
This course explores the rapidly growing field of music perception and cognition. In light of the advances in psychology, cognitive science, neuroscience, and music theory, we will examine scientific foundations of how humans perceive, understand, and create music. Topics to be covered include evolutionary origins of music, music and emotion, musical learning and development, music and the brain, the perception and cognition of music structure, and the psychological and neurological processes involved in composition, improvisation, and performance.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Cha
MUS 202 - Topics in American Music 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Detailed study of a particular musical tradition in the United States. Possible areas to be covered include rock music, Latino music, music of black Americans, and American popular music. May be repeated for credit if content changes. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: Consult registration materials for prerequisites.
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Staff
MUS 202-01 - Topics in American Music: Hip Hop 4 credits (Fall)
Hip-hop is one of the critically vital and commercially visible cultural phenomena in the world today. This class will consider the historical sweep of hip-hop culture - from the burnt-out projects of the South Bronx to the steel-and-glass office towers of Manhattan and L.A., from D.J. Kool Herc to Kendrick Lamar, from the U.S. to all points around the world - while also focusing on key issues related to race, gender, sexuality, and capitalism.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Laver
MUS 203 - Regional Studies in World Music 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
An exploration of music and its linkages to other facets of life in a particular geographic/cultural region of the world. Possible regional foci include Sub-Saharan Africa, East Asia, South Asia and the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. May be repeated for credit if content changes. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: Prerequisites will vary depending on topic. Consult registration materials for prerequisite.
Instructor: Perman
MUS 204 - The Jazz Tradition in America 4 credits (Spring)
The history of jazz traces the development of jazz from its African and European roots to contemporary style. Through reading and listening assignments, major styles and prominent musicians will be discussed. Primarily examines jazz from a sociocultural perspective.
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Laver
MUS 205 - African Music 4 credits (Fall)
Music in Africa shapes political life, religious piety, social understanding, and connects communities on the continent with the rest of the world through complex histories of interaction tied to slavery, colonialism, and post-colonial engagement. This class introduces students to a diverse range of African musical practices from combined ethnomusicological and anthropological perspectives and contextualizes these practices within global political, spiritual, historical, and social contexts. We explore race, colonial history, African modernity, and expressive community through Africa’s musical diversity.
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Perman
MUS 212 - Aural Skills II 1 credits (Spring)
Development of aural understanding through singing, dictation, conducting, and improvisation. Topics include identification and singing of chromatic intervals and harmonies, singing of chromatic melodies using “moveable do” solfège, notation of chromatic and modulating melodies and chord progressions by dictation, improvisation of phrase and period structures, conducting patterns, and aural analysis of binary and ternary forms.
Prerequisite: MUS 111 or placement test. Normally taken in conjunction with MUS 213 , this course may also be taken separately.
Instructor: N. Gaub
MUS 213 - Music Theory II 4 credits (Spring)
Examines the structure of 18th- and 19th-century music and completes the study of harmony begun in MUS 112 . Includes critical analysis of entire movements and composition based on tonal models.
Co-requisite: Concurrent registration in MUS 212
Prerequisite: MUS 112
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Cha, E. Gaub
MUS 214 - Advanced Aural Skills 1 credits (Fall or Spring)
Development of aural understanding through singing, dictation, conducting, and improvisation, according to the needs of students as established through a diagnostic exam. Topics may include chromaticism, modes, atonality, and score reading, as well as topics from Music 111 and 212 on which students need additional work. May be repeated once for credit.
Prerequisite: MUS 111 , or MUS 212 , or placement test.
Instructor: Staff
MUS 215 - Introduction to Composition 4 credits (Fall)
Students learn and apply recent techniques of composition. Expands on the compositional experiences of MUS 112 by opening students to the exploration of contemporary tonal, serial, and experimental musical styles and dealing with matters of orchestration and music form.
Prerequisite: MUS 112 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: E. McIntyre, Rommereim
MUS 216 - Jazz Improvisation 4 credits (Fall)
An integral part of the jazz tradition, improvisation is a necessary skill for the successful performer in the jazz idiom. This course will serve to familiarize the student with the basics of jazz harmony and improvisation, including the reading of chord symbols, basic jazz repertoire, stylizing melody, and the correlation between the ear and performance in jazz. In addition, this course will serve as an introduction to the various styles commonly employed in jazz (including swing, latin, and ballad) and as a means to explore the application of skill in jazz improvisation to the performance of current forms of popular music (rock, pop, funk, etc.). The basics of protocols for performance in a jazz setting will also be covered.
Prerequisite: MUS 112 .
Instructor: Laver
MUS 217 - Conducting 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
An introduction to the art of conducting with emphasis on advanced score reading and analysis, fundamental physical technique, rehearsal techniques, and ensemble leadership. Students will have opportunities to conduct ensembles of various types and sizes, including readings with the Grinnell Symphony Orchestra.
Prerequisite: MUS 213 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: E. McIntyre, Rommereim
MUS 219 - Electronic Music 4 credits (Spring)
History and techniques of electronic and computer music. Topics include compositional aesthetics, recording technology, digital and analog synthesis, sampling, MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface), and computer-assisted composition. Focuses on the creation of finished works to be presented in public concert.
Prerequisite: MUS 112 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Rommereim
MUS 220 - Performance: Advanced Private Instruction 2 credits (Fall and Spring)
Private lessons in instrumental or vocal music, intended for intermediate to advanced students. The study of performance combined with considerations of history, analysis, and style. Weekly 30-minute lessons totaling seven hours of instruction per semester. Practice expectation: minimum of one hour per day. Performance requirement: at least one performance in a department-sponsored recital or repertoire class per semester. Two credits for each area studied. May be repeated for credit.
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.
Note: Credits earned for music lessons are NOT counted in the number of credits that determine whether a student is liable for an “overload” fee (over 18 credits). A maximum of 16 credits in Music 120, 122, 220, 221, 320, and 420 will count toward graduation. Credits in Music 101, 120, 122, 220, 221, 320, and 420 may not exceed a total of six in any one semester. Students should note that Music 101, 120, 122, 220, 221, 320 and 420 are included in the 48-credit maximum in the department.
Instructor: Staff
MUS 221 - Performance: Advanced Private Instruction 2 credits (Fall and Spring)
Private lessons in instrumental or vocal music, intended for intermediate to advanced students. The study of performance combined with considerations of history, analysis, and style. Weekly 60-minute lessons totaling 14 hours of instruction per semester. Practice expectation: minimum of one hour per day. Performance requirement: at least one performance in a department-sponsored recital or repertoire class per semester. Two credits for each area studied. May be repeated for credit.
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.
Note: Credits earned for music lessons are NOT counted in the number of credits that determine whether a student is liable for an “overload” fee (over 18 credits). A maximum of 16 credits in Music 120, 122, 220, 221, 320, and 420 will count toward graduation. Credits in Music 101, 120, 122, 220, 221, 320, and 420 may not exceed a total of six in any one semester. Students should note that Music 101, 120, 122, 220, 221, 320, and 420 are included in the 48-credit maximum in the department.
Instructor: Staff
MUS 261 - Western Music to 1750 4 credits (Fall)
An intensive survey of Western European music from the time of the Ancient Greeks to the death of Bach, designed as a foundation for more advanced study of music. This course explores both canonical and off-the-beaten-path repertory through intensive listening and musical analysis. It also examines the historical events and intellectual/aesthetic ideas that influenced musical composition/performance and the changing roles music played in society. Students develop their ability to put into words what their ears are hearing, to analyze and interpret primary and secondary source documents, and to correlate aural and written forms of data. The course introduces students to the principal research tools and methods in the field of musicology, and provides hands-on application of historical information through in-class performances and demonstrations using Grinnell’s outstanding collection of historical instruments.
Prerequisite: MUS 112 and MUS 213 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Brown
MUS 262 - Western Music From 1750 to the Present 4 credits (Spring)
An intensive survey of Western European and American music from the early 18th century to the present, designed as a foundation for more advanced study of music. This course explores both canonical and off-the-beaten-path repertory through intensive listening and musical analysis. It also examines the historical events and intellectual/aesthetic ideas that influenced musical composition/performance and the changing roles music played in society. Students develop their ability to put into words what their ears are hearing, to analyze and interpret primary and secondary source documents, and to correlate aural and written forms of data. The course introduces students to the principal research tools and methods in the field of musicology, and provides hands-on application of historical information through in-class performances and demonstrations using Grinnell’s outstanding collection of historical instruments.
Prerequisite: MUS 112 and MUS 213 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Brown
MUS 320 - Performance: Shared Recital 2 credits (Fall or Spring)
An advanced and intensive study of music literature through private tutorial instruction in a single area of instrumental or vocal music. The study of performance related to advanced studies in criticism, history, analysis, and style. Weekly 60-minute lessons totaling 14 hours of instruction per semester. Practice expectation: minimum of 60 minutes per day. Performance requirement: a shared recital with one other student who is also registered for MUS-320 the same semester. May be repeated once for credit.
Prerequisite: Third-year or senior standing, MUS 220 or MUS 221 in the semester prior to registration, instructor’s consent, and signature of department chair.
Note: Credits earned for music lessons are NOT counted in the number of credits that determine whether a student is liable for an “overload” fee (over 18 credits). A maximum of 16 credits in Music 120, 122, 220, 221, 320, and 420 will count toward graduation. Credits in Music 101, 120, 122, 220, 221, 320, and 420 may not exceed a total of six in any one semester. Students should note that Music 101, 120, 122, 220, 221, 320, and 420 are included in the 48-credit maximum in the department.
Instructor: Staff
MUS 322 - Advanced Studies in Music 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
In-depth study of a particular area of music research, including musicology, ethnomusicology, music theory, and various subdisciplines such as performance practice, music cognition, semiotics, aesthetics, editing and source studies, and criticism. Possible topics include Music of the English Renaissance, Baroque Improvisation, Mozart’s Operas, Late Beethoven, Music and Nationalism, Music and Meaning, Music and the Colonial Experience, Rhythm Theories, Mathematical Theories of Music, and Feminist Musicology. May be repeated for credit if content changes. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: Will vary depending on topic.
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Staff
MUS 322-01 - Advanced Studies in Music: Race & Musical Taste 4 credits (Spring)
Taste is a judgment, of what is beautiful, what is ugly, what is disgusting. Expressions of taste can thus be personal, meaningful, and political. Musical taste also reveals how people classify themselves and others. In this class, we ask how the judgments that define musical taste are shaped by ideas of race and the ongoing social construction of race and racism. In turn, we ask how these judgments of taste shape the communities in which they are made. With a foundation in aesthetic philosophy and its critical alternatives, we explore how seemingly benign preferences for certain styles, genres, composers, or performers over others may contribute to processes of social classification and identity construction. Beginning with the antecedents to Rousseau and the Enlightenment, we cover everything from Cavalli and the portrayal of the exotic in Mozart’s operas, to hillbilly music and early blues, Zimbabwean Chimurenga, Beyonce, the Rolling Stones, punk, Györgi Ligeti, and the Aka of Central Africa. Race and musical beauty each meant something quite different before the Enlightenment than they do now. Ensuing centuries defined by colonial expansion, imperialism, and slavery redrew the world’s map, categorized people in unexpected ways, and redefined how identity is understood. Like all aesthetic practices, music participated in these historical processes and was influenced by them. When Europeans confronted the world, how did music’s engagement with the other, with the exotic, and the “Orient” inform people’s attitudes about themselves and others? How has the relationship between race and matters of musical taste shifted in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries? We connect these historical threads to contemporary confrontations during the Civil Rights era, decolonization efforts in Africa and the Caribbean, legacies of cultural appropriation, and address the here and now as multiple movements informed by race (Black Lives Matter, the alt-right) become culturally, musically, and politically resonant. Students will explore the intersections between race and musical taste through classroom discussion, debate, presentations, and research projects.
Prerequisite: MUS 112 and MUS 261 or MUS 262 .
Instructor: Perman
MUS 323 - Orchestration 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This course will focus on practical exercises in arranging pre-existing music for orchestral instruments. Students will learn about the techniques and capabilities of modern orchestral instruments through the study of representative scores, demonstrations of musical instruments by Grinnell students and faculty, and orchestration exercises in a variety of compositional styles from the classical period to the present. Students will learn to use music notation software for producing professional quality scores and parts.
Prerequisite: MUS 112 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: E. McIntyre
MUS 324 - Tonal Counterpoint 4 credits (Fall)
A study of 18th-century contrapuntal techniques through writing and analyzing two- and three-voice counterpoints, two- and three-part inventions, and three- and four-part fugues. The course will focus on the keyboard works of J. S. Bach, in which tonal counterpoint reached its highest level of sophistication. Work for class includes readings in the textbook, listening and analysis, frequent written exercises, and two larger projects as well as midterm and final exams.
Prerequisite: MUS 112 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Cha, Rommereim
MUS 325 - Composition Seminar 4 credits (Spring)
A course for students who wish to develop their skills and possibly prepare for graduate study or professional work as composers. In addition to composition assignments, students will engage in thorough analysis of important works, discussions of compositional aesthetics, and explorations on a broad range of professional topics, including career options, performance opportunities, grant-writing, and commissions.
Prerequisite: MUS 215 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: E. McIntyre, Rommereim
MUS 326 - Jazz Composition and Arranging 4 credits (Spring)
This course will serve to familiarize the student with the basic concepts and techniques used in modern jazz composition and arrangement. The most prominent areas covered in this course will include jazz theory and harmony, instrumental transpositions, techniques in part harmonization (starting from two-part and ending with five-part writing), understanding the extended techniques of each instrument and the application of the skills covered in the course to music styles outside of jazz (pop, rock, funk, etc.). These objectives will be reached through detailed study of basic jazz composition and related texts, the listening and transcription of existing arrangements/compositions within the jazz idiom and the practical application of acquired skills in the creation of student compositions and arrangements.
Prerequisite: MUS 112 and MUS 213 .
Instructor: Laver
MUS 420 - Performance: Recital 2 credits (Fall or Spring)
An advanced and intensive study of music literature through private tutorial instruction in a single area of instrumental or vocal music. The study of performance related to advanced studies in criticism, history, analysis, and style. Weekly 60-minute lessons totaling 14 hours of instruction per semester. Practice expectation: minimum of 60 minutes per day. Performance requirement: a full recital. May be repeated once for credit.
Prerequisite: Third-year or senior standing, MUS 220 or MUS 221 in the semester prior to registration, instructor’s consent, and signature of department chair.
Note: Credits earned for music lessons are NOTE counted in the number of credits that determine whether a student is liable for an “overload” (over 18 credits). For music lesson fees, see Financial Regulations. A maximum of 16 credits in Music 120, 122, 220, 221, 320, and 420 will count toward graduation. Credits in Music 101, 120, 122, 220, 221, 320, and 420 may not exceed a total of six in any one semester. Students should note that Music 101, 120, 122, 220, 221, 320, and 420 are included in the 48-credit maximum in the department.
Instructor: StaffNeuroscience
NRS 250 - Neuroscience: Foundations, Future, and Fallacies 4 credits (Spring)
This course introduces the historical and theoretical foundations of neuroscience. Topics will range broadly from questions at the molecular and cellular level to those of organismal behavior; and consideration will be given to how traditional disciplines such as biology, chemistry, and psychology have helped inform the field. The course will trace the development of neuroscience, considering both its successes and failures, as a means for appreciating its future directions. Three classes, one laboratory per week.
Prerequisite: Two 100-level science courses (with laboratories); must be from two different departments.
Instructor: Staff
NRS 495 - Neuroscience Seminar 4 credits (Fall)
The seminar provides the culmination of the neuroscience concentration. As a recapitulation of the interdisciplinary nature of the field, a significant problem in the field will be chosen for study, and students will be exposed to multiple approaches to address this problem. The course will focus on analysis of relevant primary literature with an emphasis on student-led discussion. A major writing project in the course will integrate the student’s coursework in the concentration.
Prerequisite: NRS 250 , completion of or concurrent enrollment in the cross-divisional elective, and senior standing. Limited to neuroscience concentrators.
Instructor: StaffPeace and Conflict Studies
PCS 101 - Introduction to Peace and Conflict Studies 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This course will introduce students to the interdisciplinary field of Peace and Conflict studies. We will take multiple disciplinary perspectives to understand the factors that lead to conflict or aggression, from the individual to a group and to a societal level. We will explore how identities, ideologies, and values, as well as political, social, economic or environmental structures and conditions foster conflict or peace and the mechanisms through which they are sustained.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Staff
PCS 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: Holocaust Refugees in Ireland 1 credits (Spring)
This short course will examine Ireland as place of refuge for Jewish people fleeing the Holocaust. Even though Ireland remained a difficult destination for people fleeing Nazi occupied Europe, the testimony of survivors who made it to the Irish free state in the 30’s and 40’s provides compelling evidence of Irish ttitudes at that time. Taking the personal story of Sabina Wisniak, who fled Berlin and made it to Ireland, remaining in Dublin without legal status through the war years, students will be offered a view into the complex historical and social context under conditions of neutrality in the newly independent Irish state.
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Dates: April 2 to April 16. Short course deadlines apply.
Instructor: Staff
PCS 230 - Conflict and Conflict Management 4 credits (Spring)
This course examines theories and perspectives on issues of conflict, violence, and conflict management in contemporary societies, with attention to the role of third parties in conflict resolution and peacemaking. Topics include alternative dispute resolution (ADR) techniques, restorative justice, peace processes in wars and ethnic conflicts, and principles of conflict management at the micro and macro levels.
Prerequisite: ANT 104 , POL 101 , or SOC 111 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Staff
PCS 295-01 - Special Topic: Migrants, Refugees, and Diasporas 4 credits
See SOC 295-01 or AMS 295-01 .
Philosophy
PHI 101 - Logic 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
An introduction to the formal rules of reasoning, with extensive practice in identification and analysis of types of argument and in evaluation of the validity of arguments. Topics include: the construction of arguments, the relation of ordinary language to standard logical form, inductive reasoning (including hypotheses, generalization, analogy, and probability), deductive reasoning, the syllogism, validity, truth, formal fallacies, nonformal fallacies, and practical applications of the rules of logic. An introduction to complex syllogisms and to symbolic notation may be included, but extensive treatment of these topics is reserved for PHI 102 .
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: J. Cummins, Neisser
PHI 102 - Symbolic Logic 4 credits (Fall)
A study of the formalization of complex arguments, in particular those involving quantification and relations, using principles of deduction in sentential and predicate logic. Course may also explore the semantics of the formal system.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Fennell
PHI 106 - Contemporary Ethical Issues 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Designed to develop the ability to think philosophically about moral issues by examining ethical problems. Topics may include gender, abortion, class, race, affirmative action, and the environment. The course also examines some leading ethical and/or social theories in conjunction with these topics.
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: J. Dobe, Neisser, Nyden
PHI 111 - Introduction to Philosophy 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
Designed to develop the habit of philosophical thinking by pursuing perennial problems as raised and developed throughout the history of philosophy. Readings include selections from Plato, Descartes, Hume, Kant, and other thinkers, including an introductory section on some basic principles of logical thinking.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Staff
PHI 135 - Philosophy and Literature 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Cross-listed as: GLS 135 . A general introduction to philosophical issues and topics through works of fiction. Readings include novels, short stories, and drama by Aeschylus, Sophocles, Voltaire, Goethe, Dostoevsky, Ibsen, Sartre, Camus, Borges, Kafka, Duras, Piercy, and others.
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Staff
PHI 215 - Existentialism 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
A study of the major existentialist thinkers of the 19th and 20th centuries, including Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, Camus, and others. Readings will include philosophical and literary texts that explore issues including the nature of the self and its relations with others, freedom and responsibility, anxiety, transcendence, ambiguity, and the absurd.
Prerequisite: PHI 111 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Neisser
PHI 231 - History of Ancient Philosophy 4 credits (Fall)
Cross-listed as: CLS 231 . A study of the philosophy of ancient Greece and Rome. Traces the growth of Western philosophy from its origins in the sixth century BCE through the third century CE. Includes examination of the Presocratics, Sophists, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Epicureans, Stoics, Sceptics, and Plotinus.
Prerequisite: PHI 111 or HUM 101 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: J. Cummins
PHI 233 - History of Early Modern Philosophy 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
A study of the intellectual world of the early modern period. Readings may include works by Descartes, Hobbes, Anne Conway, Princess Elizabeth, Leibniz, Spinoza, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant. Particular attention will be given to the complex relations between philosophy, science, religion, and politics during this period.
Prerequisite: PHI 111 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Foreign language option available in French or German for course and +2.
Instructor: Nyden, J. Dobe
PHI 234 - 19th-Century Continental Philosophy 4 credits (Fall)
Survey of the major figures in 19th-century philosophy, emphasizing themes that lead to developments in 20th-century phenomenology, existentialism, and poststructuralism. Readings include selections from Hegel’s Phenomenology, Kierkegaard’s writings, Marx’s philosophical and political works, several texts of Nietzsche, and short works from the hermeneutic tradition.
Prerequisite: PHI 111 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Plus-2 option available.
Foreign language option available in French or Russian for course and +2.
Instructor: Ramey
PHI 235 - 20th-Century Continental Philosophy 4 credits (Spring)
Examination of the major themes in phenomenology, existentialism, hermeneutics, poststructuralism, and feminism. Readings may include works by Husserl, Heidegger, Habermas, Merleau-Ponty, Sartre, Beauvoir, Derrida, Foucault, Lyotard, and Cixous. Special attention will be focused on connections between philosophy and recent developments in humanities and social sciences.
Prerequisite: PHI 111 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Plus-2 option available.
Foreign language option available in French, Dutch or Latin for course and +2.
Instructor: Ramey
PHI 242 - Ethical Theory 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Examination of several problems that arise in ethical theory. Questions included for consideration are the identity of the moral self, the issues of moral relativism and how to ground norms, the question of the nature of the virtues and their relationship to one another, and the question of whether gender might be morally significant.
Prerequisite: PHI 111 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: J. Dobe
PHI 245 - Philosophy of Art 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Designed as a survey of theories of art and beauty, this course acquaints students with influential aesthetic theories in the history of Western philosophy and relates them to more recent theoretical developments in the arts.
Prerequisite: PHI 111 ; courses in the arts emphasizing theoretical issues may substitute for PHI 111 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: J. Dobe
PHI 253 - Philosophy of Mind 4 credits (Fall)
Examination of several issues in philosophy of mind. Topics include the metaphysics of mind (the mind-body problem, dualism, functionalism, eliminativism, and the computer paradigm), intentionality (internalism and externalism), and consciousness (subjectivity, the nature of qualitative experience). Readings from Descartes, Ryle, Smart, D. Lewis, Putnam, Dennett, Quine, Davidson, Searle, Churchland, Fodor, and Nagel.
Prerequisite: PHI 111 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Fennell, Neisser
PHI 254 - Metaphysics 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Examination of several issues in metaphysics, with an emphasis on contemporary discussions in the Anglo-American tradition. Topics may include, among others: freedom and determinism, personal identity, causality, materialism vs. idealism, realism vs. anti-realism, mereology (part vs. whole), modality (necessity and possibility), universals and particulars, substance, time and identity. On occasion, the semester may be devoted to a more extensive examination of a single metaphysical problem. Readings will vary depending on the problems addressed. With approval from the department chair, may be taken more than once if the topic has changed sufficiently.
Prerequisite: PHI 111 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Fennell, Neisser, Nyden
PHI 255 - History of Scientific Thought 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This course focuses on scientific change in 16th and 17th-century Europe — what is often called “the scientific revolution.” Particular attention will be paid to the relationships between science, philosophy, religion, and politics. We will focus on three incompatible alternatives to the Aristotelian science taught in the universities: that of Bacon, Galileo, and Descartes. Next we will turn our attention to Boyle, who attempted to consolidate these alternatives into one coherent program called mechanical or corpuscular philosophy. We will end our historical study with an examination of arguably the most important scientific figure of the period, Isaac Newton. The course will end with the larger philosophical question of what a scientific revolution is and whether the events of early modern Europe qualify.
Prerequisite: PHI 111 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Nyden
PHI 256 - Philosophy of Language and Cognition 4 credits (Spring)
A survey of the major issues in contemporary philosophy of language, as well as an examination of the major assumptions of empirical theories of language and cognition. Readings include works by Frege, Russell, Carnap, Ayer, Wittgenstein, Kripke, Putnam, Quine, Davidson, and Chomsky. Topics include theories of meaning, the nature of reference, and the cognitivist approach to mind and language.
Prerequisite: PHI 102 or PHI 111 , or LIN 114 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Fennell
PHI 257 - Philosophy of Science 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
An examination of the foundations of scientific inference (induction and confirmation), the nature of scientific explanation, the structure of theories, and scientific methodology. Discussion includes the possibility of objective knowledge and the nature of scientific revolutions.
Prerequisite: PHI 102 or PHI 111 , or background in a science.
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Fennell, Neisser, Nyden
PHI 258 - Classical and Contemporary American Pragmatism 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
A study of the major figures in classical and contemporary American pragmatism. Topics included for consideration are: what is the pragmatic method; how does it engage traditional philosophical questions; and what is its relation to other key philosophical approaches, such as logical positivism and realism. Readings may include selections from Peirce, James, Dewey, Mead, C.I. Lewis, Carnap, Ayer, Quine, Davidson, Rorty, Putnam, and Nagel.
Prerequisite: PHI 111 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Fennell
PHI 261 - Philosophy of Race and Gender 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This course examines the relationship between modern conceptions of race and gender from philosophical perspectives that may include historical materialism, phenomenology, critical theory, postcolonial theory, and whiteness studies. We will study the social construction of race and gender, as well as the way these concepts inform theories of the subject. Finally, we will consider how race and gender identities have become sites for pleasure, creativity, and productivity.
Prerequisite: PHI 111 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Staff
PHI 263 - Political Theory I 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Cross-listed as: POL 263 and CLS 263 . A selective introduction to the major concepts and themes of Western political philosophy from classical Greece to the Renaissance. Topics may include: human nature, the basis of society, the purpose and justification of government, types of government and their relative merits, the function of law, political virtues, and the civic role of religion.
Prerequisite: PHI 111 , POL 101 , HIS 255 , CLS 255 , HIS 257 , CLS 257 , HIS 258 , CLS 258 , HUM 101 , HUM 102 , HUM 140 , or SST 140
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: J. Cummins
PHI 264 - Political Theory II 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Cross-listed as: POL 264 . A study of the central themes and concepts articulated by political theorists since Machiavelli. Focus will be on theories of human nature, social relationships, conceptions of justice, and the operations of power. May be repeated once for credit when content changes.
Prerequisite: PHI 111 or POL 101 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Plus-2 option available.
Foreign language option available in any language for course and +2.
Instructor: Meehan
PHI 265 - Psychoanalysis and the Intersubjective Constitution of the Self 4 credits (Fall)
This class will consider the psychic/social processes of the constitution of the self. We will read highly theoretical texts from the psychoanalytic tradition, including works by Freud, Jessica Benjamin, Judith Butler, Hortense Spillers, Steven Mitchell, and Cornelius Castoriadis. We will study the way gender, race, and class become aspects of our individual and collective psychic identities, consider the role of power in the constitution of identity, and search for possibilities of individual and social psychic resistance.
Prerequisite: PHI 111 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Meehan
PHI 268 - Cultural Critique: Marx, Nietzsche, Freud, and Beyond 4 credits (Fall)
Students begin by examining several key texts of the 19th century by Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud that lay the groundwork for the “Critique of Ideology” that has evolved in the 20th century into the interdisciplinary field of “Cultural Critique.” Focusing on thinkers who have fused the critical perspectives of Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud, students explore the works of the Frankfurt School (Adorno, Marcuse, Benjamin), structuralism (Althusser, Bataille), and poststructuralism (Foucault, Deleuze, Agamben, Butler).
Prerequisite: PHI 111 ; and one 200-level course in Philosophy, Political Science, or History.
Note: Not offered every year.
Plus-2 option available.
Foreign language option available in any language for course and +2.
Instructor: Ramey
PHI 271 - Neurophilosophy 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This course examines the current “neuroscientific image” of mind and person, investigating the conceptual and ethical issues it raises. Neurophilosophy involves both the application of neurobiological findings to philosophical questions and the application of philosophical critique to the findings of neuroscience. Questions include: What is the neural basis of mental representation, consciousness, and the self? Is psychology reducible to neurobiology? What legal and ethical issues attend the new techniques of neural monitoring and intervention?
Prerequisite: PHI 111 ; courses in neuroscience may substitute for PHI 111 with consent of the instructor.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Neisser
PHI 295-01 - Special Topic: African-American Political Thought 4 credits (Fall)
Co-requisite: This course will survey the deep and dark history of dreams, accomplishments, and roadblocks that have constituted and continue to influence the ways Blacks in America negotiate a compromised political position. Traversing history from the captured slave, to the Reformation and Jim Crow, to the Civil Rights movement in the modern day reflections on the role of civil society, police, and entertainment; we will reflect on the desires, goals, and hurdles that Blacks have faced while trying to articulate a sense of freedom within a white supremacist regime.
Prerequisite: PHI 111 .
Instructor: Mubirumusoke
PHI 295-02 - Special Topic: Philosophy of the Social Sciences 4 credits (Fall)
This course examines the distinctive questions and challenges that inform the practice of the social (or human) sciences from a philosophical perspective. Some key topics we will consider are: the relationship between the natural and social sciences; the nature of social explanations (i.e., the relevance and nature of causation, explanation, prediction, laws, and social mechanisms according to the social sciences); the significance of interpretation and meaning for understanding human behavior; reductionism, individualism, and holism in the social sciences; objectivity and value judgments; the idea and practice of critical social science for social critique.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Koo
PHI 336 - Contemporary French Philosophy 4 credits (Spring)
A detailed study of French philosophy since 1960. Possible topics include structuralism, deconstruction, poststructuralism, and postmodernism. Focus on issues of interdisciplinary concern, addressing questions of textuality, psychoanalysis, and politics. Readings may include works by Foucault, Derrida, Deleuze, Lyotard, Cixous, and Irigaray, among others. May be repeated for credit if content changes. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: PHI 234 , or PHI 235 , or PHI 268 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Ramey
PHI 352 - Philosophy of Religion 4 credits (Spring)
See REL 352 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
PHI 391 - Advanced Studies in Continental Philosophy 4 credits (Spring)
An advanced investigation of a single author, text, issue, or problem in continental philosophy. Content of the course announced each year. With permission of instructor, may be repeated for credit when content changes. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: Prerequisites will vary depending on topic; at least one 200-level course.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Meehan, Ramey
PHI 392 - Advanced Studies in Anglo-American Philosophy 4 credits (Fall)
An advanced investigation of a topic, text, or author in the analytic or Anglo-American tradition. Content of the course announced each year. With permission of instructor, may be repeated for credit when content changes. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: Prerequisites will vary depending on topic; at least one 200-level course.
Instructor: Fennell, Neisser
PHI 392-01 - Advanced Studies in Anglo-American Philosophy: Sellars and his Legacy 4 credits (Spring)
A philosopher’s philosopher, Wilfred Sellars is among the most influential (and difficult) figures of twentieth century philosophy. Works such as Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind signaled a sea change in the analytic tradition, pushing it beyond its initial commitment to logical positivism. Sellars’ legacy is his powerful synoptic vision of philosophy, sometimes called Inferentialism, which juggles metaphysical naturalism with a commitment to normativity. His ideas have been taken up by other leading figures such as John McDowell, Robert Brandom and Richard Rorty. In this seminar we will investigate Sellars’ views, both in their original context and in their continuing relevance today.
Prerequisite: PHI 253 , PHI 254 , PHI 256 , PHI 257 , or PHI 258 .
Instructor: Neisser
PHI 393 - Advanced Studies in History of Philosophy 4 credits (Fall)
An advanced investigation of a single author, text, issue, or problem in the history of philosophy. Content of the course announced each year. With permission of instructor, may be repeated for credit when content changes. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: Prerequisites will vary depending on topic; at least one 200-level philosophy course.
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: J. Cummins, J. Dobe, Nyden
PHI 393-01 - Advanced Studies: History of Philosophy: Spinoza/Mental Health 4 credits (Fall)
In this course we will do a careful reading of Spinoza’s Ethics and Theological Political Treatise. In particular, we will consider the implications of Spinoza’s philosophy of mind and theory of the affects to mental health and wellbeing. We will consider how Spinoza’s epistemology, political philosophy, and views on relational autonomy can inform mental health policy. Students interested in the Plus 2 Option: Students will produce digital products (e.g., brief videos, podcasts, infographics, etc.) to explain Spinoza’s concepts to mental health policy makers. This plus 2 option requires attendance to HUM 295-02 - Special Topic: Mental Health Policy and Outreach (Fridays 9-11:50 am first half of semester) in order to learn the necessary data analysis and digital humanities skills.
Prerequisite: PHI 233 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Nyden
PHI 394 - Advanced Studies in Theories of Value 4 credits (Spring)
An advanced investigation of a single author, text, issue, or problem that addresses theories of value (ethics, politics, aesthetics, interdisciplinary studies). Content of the course announced each year. With permission of instructor, may be repeated for credit when content changes. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: Prerequisites will vary depending on topic; at least one 200-level philosophy course.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Meehan
PHI 395-01 - Advanced Special Topic: Greek Ethical Thought 4 credits (Spring)
Cross-listed as: CLS 395-01 . The development of ancient Greek thinking about the goals of life and the motivations toward or away from them. Extensive study of Plato and Aristotle, with comparative material from Greek literature and from other Greek philosophers as well as from Roman writers who adopt Greek moral ideas. Some present-day revisiting of Greek approaches to ethics.
Prerequisite: CLS 231 , CLS 263 , PHI 231 , PHI 263 , or POL 263 . HUM 101 recommended.
Instructor: J. Cummins
PHI 491 - Senior Essay 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
The preparation and writing of an original piece of philosophical work, not to exceed 7,500 words in length, based upon primary or secondary sources. Seniors must obtain approval of a department member as adviser for the essay and the department chair before the end of the semester preceding that during which the essay will be written.
Prerequisite: Senior standing.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: StaffPhysical Education
PHE 100 - Physical Education Activity Instruction (Practica) Variable credits (Fall or Spring)
1/2 or 1 credit (See schedule of courses for credit option)
| Aerobics |
Introductory Kayaking |
| Advanced Baseball |
Lifeguard Training |
| Advanced Racquetball |
Pickleball |
| Advanced Tennis |
Power Walking |
| Advanced Weightlifting |
Rock Climbing |
| Basketball Skills |
Spinning |
| Beginning Racquetball |
Standard First Aid |
| Beginning Swimming |
Swimming Technique |
| Beginning Tennis |
Training for Your First 5K |
|
|
Triathlon Training |
| Bowling |
Volleyball |
| Cardio Core |
Water Aerobics |
| Conditioning |
Wellness |
| Floor Hockey |
Women’s Health |
| Golf |
Yoga |
| Indoor Soccer |
|
Note: May be taken without credit. S/D/F only.
PHE 101 - Sport Performance: Intercollegiate Competitive (Practica) 1/2 per season credits (Fall and Spring)
| For men: |
|
For women: |
|
| Baseball |
Indoor Track |
Basketball |
Soccer |
| Basketball |
Outdoor Track |
Cross Country |
Softball |
| Cross Country |
Soccer |
Golf |
Swimming |
| Football |
Swimming |
Indoor Track |
Tennis |
| Golf |
Tennis |
Outdoor Track |
Volleyball |
Note: May be taken without credit. S/D/F only.
PHE 112 - Outdoor Leadership 2 credits (Spring)
This 1/2 semester course focuses on the more theoretical aspects of outdoor leadership. It does not cover activity skills. Topics include trip planning, minimum impact, learning theory, group dynamics, thinking critically in the outdoors, skill matching, risk management, and navigation. There will be labs in navigation and teaching.
Prerequisite: None. Speaking with the professor prior to registration is suggested.
S/D/F only.
Instructor: Zeiss
PHE 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: Historical and Contemporary Issues of Women’s Sports in America 2 credits (Spring)
A discussion based short-course exploring women’s sports from long before Billy Jean King up to Serena Williams. This course will take a closer look at the start of women’s collegiate sports and the post-Title IX women’s sport experience. We will also examine the role of women in the greater sports industry.
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Dates: April 2 to May 11. 1/2 semester deadlines apply.
Instructor: Koester
PHE 200 - Organization and Administration of Athletics 4 credits (Fall)
Lecture and discussion concerning the function, organization, and administration of an athletic program. Includes philosophy and psychology of coaching.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Arseneault, Pedersen, Madara
PHE 202 - Coaching Methods 4 credits (Spring)
A comprehensive study of the components of coaching. Areas of emphasis include: philosophy of coaching; sport psychology; exercise science; practice planning; athletic management; and sport-specific training of tactics and techniques. Geared toward coaching youth and high school athletes. Students who successfully complete the course will receive a coaching endorsement from the American Sport Education Program (ASEP).
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Hollibaugh
PHE 211 - Foundations of Athletic Training 4 credits (Spring)
Specific to rehabilitation and the care and prevention of athletic injuries. Lectures plus laboratory sections.
Prerequisite: CPR/First Aid.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Staff
PHE 213 - Lifeguard Instructor Training 2 credits (Spring)
This course is an advanced American Red Cross course providing students American Red Cross Instructor Authorization for Lifeguarding. Upon successful completion, student will be trained to teach basic-level Lifeguarding (including First Aid), Lifeguard Management and CPR/AED for the Professional Rescuer.
Prerequisite: Current American Red Cross Lifeguarding certification
Note: Not offered every year. S/D/F only
Instructor: Hurley
PHE 235 - Psychological Foundations of Sport 4 credits (Spring)
An overview of various psychological concepts underlying sports performance. Pertinent social and philosophical issues also addressed. Topics include personality, anxiety and arousal, motivation, self-efficacy and confidence, individual and group dynamics, cohesion, and various cognitive intervention strategies.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: W. Freeman
PHE 236 - The Role of Sport in Society 4 credits (Spring)
The study of sport can be accomplished in many ways. At Grinnell College we approach the task from a social studies method. The faculty members who teach the sport courses are members of the physical education department, a part of the College’s social sciences division. The goal of the course is to offer students a theoretical base to study sport from a sociological standpoint and then to provide opportunity for students to engage in that study through various topics and exercises. At any given iteration of this course, there may be two or three professors teaching it and taking the students down different paths, depending on the background and interest areas of the faculty members. Topics of current focus are sport sociology theory and research, sport and the media, sports and athletic experience through the lens of gender, sex, and sexuality, the changing face of sport in 1960s America (race and class), the role of international sport and the Olympics, competition vs. cooperation.
Prerequisite: PHE 100 or second-semester standing.
Instructor: Freeman, HamiltonPhysics
PHY 109 - Physics in the Arts 4 credits
An investigation of a variety of physical principles that have interesting applications to musical acoustics and the visual arts. Topics include simple vibrating systems, musical instruments, Fourier analysis, light and color, optics, and photography. Intended primarily for nonscience majors. Laboratory work allows students to investigate phenomena firsthand. Three lectures, one laboratory each week.
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Cunningham
PHY 116 - The Universe and Its Structure 4 credits (Fall)
Descriptive astronomy, covering the tools and methods of astronomy, the solar system, the stars, and the structure of the galaxy and the universe.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Kempton, Christensen
PHY 131 - General Physics I 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
This course is the first part of a yearlong, calculus-based introductory physics sequence, focusing on the application of physical principles, logical reasoning, and mathematical analysis to understand a broad range of natural phenomena related to force and motion. Topics include Newtonian mechanics, conservation principles, gravity, and oscillation. This course meets for six hours each week and involves both classroom and laboratory work.
Prerequisite or co-requisite: MAT 124 or MAT 131 .
Instructor: Staff
PHY 132 - General Physics II 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
This course is the second part of a yearlong, calculus-based introductory physics sequence, focusing on the application of physical principles, logical reasoning, and mathematical analysis to understand a broad range of electromagnetic phenomena. Topics include electricity, magnetism, light, and early atomic theory. This course meets for six hours each week and involves both classroom and laboratory work.
Prerequisite: PHY 131 and MAT 124 or MAT 131 . Prerequisite or co-requisite: MAT 133 is recommended.
Instructor: Staff
PHY 180 - Bridges, Towers, and Skyscrapers 4 credits (Spring)
An investigation of large man-made structures (e.g., Brooklyn Bridge, Eiffel Tower, and Hancock Tower/Chicago), considering structural, social, and aesthetic aspects. The relationship between a structure’s form and its function is examined. Concepts from physics necessary for the quantitative analysis are presented. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: MAT 124 or MAT 131 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Cunningham, Kempton
PHY 220 - Electronics 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
A course in modern electronics, emphasizing the use of integrated circuits. Topics include analog electronics, primarily the design of circuits based on operational amplifiers; digital electronics, including logic circuits, counters, and timers; and microcontroller interfacing using software written in low-level languages and C. Two lectures, two laboratories each week.
Prerequisite: PHY 132 , and some computer programming experience, and second-year standing.
Instructor: Tjossem, Cunningham
PHY 232 - Modern Physics 4 credits (Fall)
For students with an introductory physics background who wish to extend their knowledge of atomic, nuclear, and solid-state physics. Emphasis on the basic phenomena and fundamental physics principles involved in special relativity and quantum mechanics and their subsequent application to atomic, nuclear, and solid state models. Three classes, one laboratory each week.
Prerequisite: PHY 131 and PHY 132 Prerequisite or co-requisite: MAT 215
Instructor: Cunningham, Willig-Onwuachi
PHY 234 - Mechanics 4 credits (Spring)
A study of analytical mechanics, including Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formalisms of particle dynamics, rigid body motion, and harmonic oscillations.
Prerequisite: PHY 131 and PHY 132 . Prerequisite or co-requisite: MAT 220 .
Instructor: Christensen
PHY 310 - Computational Physics 2 credits (Fall)
An active-learning introduction to computing in physics. Class is taught in the laboratory, with each class session dedicated to a particular topic. These topics include investigations of numerical algorithms for integration, matrix manipulations, Fourier transforms, data fitting, and Monte Carlo methods.
Prerequisite: PHY 234 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Tjossem
PHY 314 - Thermodynamics and Statistical Physics 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
A study of thermodynamics from classical and statistical points of view. Applications of Maxwell-Boltzmann, Fermi-Dirac, and Bose-Einstein distributions are used to provide an introduction to solid-state physics and quantum optics.
Prerequisite: PHY 232 and MAT 220 .
Instructor: Kempton
PHY 335 - Electromagnetic Theory 4 credits (Fall)
An advanced treatment of electric and magnetic fields and potentials, including the laws of Coulomb, Ampere, and Faraday, Maxwell’s equations, and electromagnetic waves.
Prerequisite: PHY 234 .
Instructor: Hasegawa
PHY 337 - Optics Wave Phenomena 4 credits (Spring)
A wide variety of physical problems — including one- and two-dimensional mechanical oscillating systems, sound, and optical phenomena — are examined using the theory of waves. The primary emphasis is on physical optics (interference and diffraction phenomena). Three lectures, one laboratory each week.
Prerequisite: PHY 335 .
Instructor: Cunningham, Willig-Onwuachi
PHY 340 - Astrophysics 2 credits (Spring)
An introduction to topics in theoretical and observational astrophysics, including stellar structure and evolution, the physics of interstellar material, galactic structure and dynamics, cosmology and observational technology and techniques. The course also includes a very brief survey of other topics, including the solar system and areas of current research interest.
Prerequisite: PHY 232 .
Instructor: Kempton, Christensen
PHY 360 - Solid State Physics 2 credits (Fall)
An introduction to the physics of crystalline solids, such as metals, semiconductors, and insulators. This course presents models of the crystal lattice, lattice vibrations, and electronic band structures, as well as a brief survey of selected topics of current research interest.
Prerequisite: PHY 232 .
Instructor: Cunningham
PHY 395-01 - Advanced Special Topics: Stellar and Planetary Astrophysics 4 credits (Spring)
An introduction to the subject of stellar and planetary astrophysics from a theoretical and observational perspective. Topics covered include stellar structure and evolution, the physics of interstellar material, extrasolar planets, and observational technology and techniques. The course will also touch upon relevant areas of current research in astrophysics.
Prerequisite: PHY 232 .
Instructor: Kempton
PHY 399 - Directed Research 2 or 4 credits
See Directed Research.
Instructor: Staff
PHY 456 - Introduction to Quantum Theory 4 credits (Fall)
Introduction to the physical and mathematical foundations of quantum mechanics with application to simple physical systems.
Prerequisite: PHY 232 , MAT 220 , and PHY 335 .
Instructor: Staff
PHY 457 - Advanced Quantum Theory 2 credits (Spring)
Application and implications of the quantum theory. Perturbation theory and other approximation techniques are used to examine various quantum systems. Fundamental questions of interpretation of the quantum theory will also be considered.
Prerequisite: PHY 456 .
Instructor: Staff
PHY 462 - Advanced Laboratory 2 credits (Fall and Spring)
Experiments bear a closer resemblance to research than do the experiments in more elementary courses. There is a wide range of activities to meet individual needs and interests. Two afternoons of laboratory or reading each week.
Prerequisite: senior standing and at least three 200- or 300-level physics courses. Special permission for well-qualified third-year students.
Instructor: Tjossem, Willig-OnwuachiPolicy Studies
PST 220 - Foundations of Policy Analysis 4 credits (Spring)
Cross-listed as: ECN 220 or POL 220 . This course explores principles of policymaking, with applications. It opens by examining theoretical rationales for policy, including those premised on ideology or market failure. It proceeds to investigate institutional context and processes relevant to policymaking, using case studies. With this foundation, the course explores specific policy problems and solutions related to important problem areas, such as economic growth, health care, monetary policy, education, and environment. Students will be encouraged to investigate policy areas of interest for case studies and papers.
Prerequisite: ECN 111 or POL 101 , and second-year standing.
Instructor: Ferguson, Hess
PST 295-01 - Special Topic: Unlocking Policy Neglect: Comparative Agenda Setting 4 credits (Spring)
Why are global challenges like climate change, human rights abuses, and inequality treated with little urgency by policymakers? This course examines how policy agendas are set in the public, the media, and ultimately in important decision-making institutions as well as why some problems face challenges in making it onto the policy agenda. The course will be taught from Leiden University College in the form of a small, online personal course. In that setting, Grinnell students will interact with peers from LUC, a liberal arts college in The Hague with strengths in interdisciplinary policy approaches. The course will be sponsored by Grinnell College professor Wayne Moyer.
This class includes course-embedded travel during the first week of Spring Break to Leiden University in the Netherlands. Students will engage in dialogue on course materials and research projects with their Leiden University peers and with Professor Zicha. They will also conduct a few visits to local organizations that work in related policy areas. Participation is required. Student will be required to pay a $400 participation fee (most other required travel expenses will be covered). This fee will be added to the student tuition bill and is due by the first day of classes. If payment of this fee causes you financial concern, please contact Gretchen Zimmermann in the Financial Aid Office to discuss loan options to cover this additional cost for attendance.
Prerequisite: Third-year standing and ECN 220 , POL 220 , or PST 220 and MAT 209 . Recommended: POL 255 , POL 257 , POL 258 , POL 261 , POL 262 , POL 273 , or POL 295 (Politics of the Middle East or Intro to South Asian Politics).
Instructor: Zicah
PST 320 - Applied Policy Analysis 4 credits (Fall)
Topic changes each year. This course will apply fundamental policy ideas from Policy Studies 220 to specific policy problems. Students will analyze policy problems and propose solutions. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: PST 220 , POL 220 , or ECN 220 . Other prerequisites may apply depending on staff teaching.
Instructor: Staff
PST 320-01 - Applied Policy Analysis 4 credits (Fall)
International Adoption, Reproductive Technologies, and the Implementation of Policy. Is access to reproduction a basic human right? How do people seek to have the “experience” of reproduction? How should access to that experience be regulated? Surrogacy has become a common term within the discourse of reproduction, and it can range from adopting other people’s children to buying other people’s gametes and even to renting out other people’s bodies. Given the various forms of appropriation, expropriation and commodification that now attend this discourse, how do we define the boundary between surrogacy as slavery and surrogacy as entrepreneurship? This course will explore the policy ramifications of these and other questions as we reflect on the concurrent and often conflicting interrelationship between “market” and “polis” models in regard to the policy-making process. To that end, perspectives from economics, biology, and literature will be brought to bear on behalf of the urgencies that compel relief and the cautionary tales that give us pause.
Prerequisite: PST 220 . Any interested student is strongly encouraged to contact one of the professors.
Instructor: Andrews, Powell, Queathem
PST 420 - Advanced Policy Research 2 credits (Spring)
In this course students will use the techniques of policy analysis they studied in PST 320 to conduct an independent research project. Normally these projects will be related to the student’s major or other curricular interest. During the first several course meetings students will identify and refine their policy area for in-depth study. This course will meet once per week during the spring semester, and will culminate with individual presentations of the policy research.
Prerequisite: PST 320 .
Instructor: StaffPolitical Science
POL 101 - Introduction to Political Science 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
Designed to provide a general introduction to the major concepts and themes of the discipline of political science, using examples from contemporary American, comparative, and international politics.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Staff
POL 216 - Politics of Congress 4 credits (Fall)
A study of the politics of Congress, including such topics as congressional elections, party leadership, floor voting, congressional committees, congressional policymaking, and reform proposals. Emphasis placed on understanding theories of legislative behavior.
Prerequisite: POL 101 .
Instructor: Hess
POL 219 - Constitutional Law and Politics 4 credits (Fall)
This course examines the critical role that the U.S. Supreme Court has played in shaping the American political landscape over time. We will learn various methods of constitutional interpretation, and use them to read and analyze many of the Court’s landmark decisions. Specifically, we will explore how the court has policed controversial power struggles in American government, and developed into a powerful political institution.
Prerequisite: POL 101 .
Instructor: Staff
POL 220 - Foundations of Policy Analysis 4 credits (Spring)
Cross-listed as: PST 220 . This course explores principles of policy making, with applications. It opens by examining theoretical rationales for policy, including those premised on ideology or market failure. It proceeds to investigate institutional context and processes relevant to policy making, using case studies. With this foundation, the course explores specific policy problems and solutions related to important problem areas such as economic growth, health care, monetary policy, education, and environment. Students will be encouraged to investigate policy areas of interest for case studies and papers.
Prerequisite: POL 101 and second-year standing.
Instructor: Hess
POL 222 - American Immigration Politics 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Debates over the perceived costs and benefits of immigration have long been a familiar part of American political rhetoric, but immigration also raises bigger questions about global justice, state sovereignty, what it means to be an American, and what newcomers should have to do to become one. We will explore these contemporary controversies in American immigration politics, and ask ourselves: What is the ‘problem’ and can it be fixed? In the process, we will learn lessons about how American politics works more generally.
Prerequisite: POL 101 .
Instructor: Staff
POL 237 - Political Parties 4 credits (Fall)
An examination of the political party in U.S. politics. Considers the party at three levels: the individual, the organization, and the system. Topics include the development and evolution of parties, candidates and elections, third parties, and the role of parties in the U.S. political system.
Prerequisite: POL 101 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Trish
POL 239 - The Presidency 4 credits (Spring)
Consideration of the modern presidency as an institution and the president as a critical political actor in politics. Topics include leadership, institutional change, executive-legislative relations, decision-making, and presidential selection.
Prerequisite: POL 101 .
Instructor: Trish
POL 250 - Politics of International Relations 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
A study of the evolving relations between nations in the period since 1939, focusing on U.S. foreign policy. The crucial decisions of the Cold War and post-Cold War evaluated against standard of the rational national actor, taking into account distortions caused by bureaucratic, bargaining, personality, psychological, societal, momentum, and communications factors.
Prerequisite: POL 101 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Moyer
POL 251 - International Political Economy 4 credits (Fall)
Introduction to the study of political economy through the examination of the pursuit of wealth and power in the international system. Evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of different theoretical approaches as applied to the issues of trade, international finance, and foreign investment.
Prerequisite: POL 101 . ECN 111 is highly recommended.
Instructor: Driscoll
POL 255 - The Politics of New Europe 4 credits (Spring)
This course provides a survey of contemporary European politics. It examines the European geopolitical dynamics in the 20th century, the variations among European polities in political institutions, parties, electoral politics, and public policy; and the institutionalization and policy processes in the European Union. Some thematic issues are the varieties of democracies and capitalist systems, transitions to democracy, the role of the state in the economy, and enlargement and deepening of the European Union.
Prerequisite: POL 101 .
Instructor: Sala
POL 257 - Nationalism 4 credits (Fall)
This course explores the definition of states and nations and the relationship between them. It analyzes the forces that motivated the appearance and spread of nation-states, and that formed national identities. It also studies the relationship between capitalism, communism, decolonization, globalization, and nationalism. It explains the emergence of secessionist claims, ethnic violence, and the ability of institutions in channeling national conflict. Cases include France, United States, Spain, Germany, Ireland, Quebec, U.S.S.R., Yugoslavia, India, or Rwanda.
Prerequisite: POL 101 .
Instructor: Sala
POL 258 - Democratization and the Politics of Regime Change 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
What is a democracy? Which factors contribute to democratic transitions and the survival of democracy over time? What happens when democratization fails? What is the role of international factors in democratic development? We will explore these questions through an analysis of democratization in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America, with a particular emphasis on developments from the past twenty years.
Prerequisite or co-requisite: POL 101 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Lussier
POL 259 - Human Rights: Foundations, Challenges, and Choices 4 credits (Spring)
This course will familiarize students with the international human rights regime and will analyze a series of case studies which illustrate the challenges to the realization of human rights and the choices for human rights advocates and policymakers. Topics for discussion include universality or relativity of human rights, the interplay between civil and political rights and economic and social rights, the impact of sovereignty, monitoring, and compliance. Cases will include humanitarian intervention, the U.S. domestic response to 9/11, religious accommodation and equality of rights, human rights and development, and climate change and human rights.
Prerequisite: POL 101 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Moyer
POL 261 - State and Society in Latin America 4 credits (Fall)
Examination of the diverse and common dilemmas facing Latin America, using social scientific approaches. Topics include economic development and political uncertainty.
Prerequisite: POL 101 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Staff
POL 262 - African Politics 4 credits (Spring)
The major events and themes in the study of politics in sub-Saharan Africa. Part 1 is historical. We travel through pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial histories to understand Africa’s present political landscape. Part 2 is thematic. We use this historical knowledge to answer major questions in African politics concerning: political order, the strength of states, political economy of development, political culture, ethnicity, and gender.
Prerequisite: POL 101 .
Instructor: Driscoll
POL 263 - Political Theory I 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
See PHI 263 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
POL 264 - Political Theory II 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
See PHI 264 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
POL 273 - Politics of Russia 4 credits (Spring)
This course analyzes the politics of contemporary Russia, focusing on the country’s post-Soviet political and economic transformation, as well as its changing place on the global stage. Questions we will explore include: what was the Soviet Union and why did it collapse? What kind of political regime has since taken root in Russia? How do Russians view their political system? and What role does Russia play in a multi-polar world?
Prerequisite: POL 101 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Lussier
POL 295-01 - Special Topic: American Urban Politics 4 credits (Spring)
This course introduces students to the structure and operation of local government, the tensions that exist between the centralizing tendencies of federal power and the desire for local autonomy, and the unique set of policy concerns that drive the politics of local communities across the country. The overarching theme of this course is the intersection of local politics and economics reveals the origins of American inequality.
Prerequisite: POL 101 .
Instructor: Dawkins
POL 295-01 - Special Topic: Political Psychology 4 credits (Fall)
Using tools drawn from cognitive and social psychology, the course examines how individuals construct attitudes, engage in political decision-making, and interact with others in the public sphere. The course provides an overview of the subfield, as it delves into the key issues and controversies in the study of the political psychology.
Prerequisite: POL 101 .
Instructor: Dawkins
POL 310 - Advanced Seminar in American Politics 4 credits (Fall)
A research-oriented course in American politics. Students examine research methods and their application to political questions/phenomena. Students then devise and conduct an intensive research project. Throughout the course, there is an emphasis on empirical political science.
Prerequisite: Third or fourth-year standing and MAT 115 or MAT 209 ; and POL 216 , POL 222 , POL 237 , POL 239 , POL 220 or PST 220 .
Instructor: Trish
POL 319 - Advanced Seminar in Constitutional Law 4 credits (Spring)
This course is an in-depth exploration of the role of the U.S. Supreme Court in American democracy, focusing on the question of how courts strike a balance between protecting democratic values and protecting the rights of vulnerable minorities. Students will read contemporary legal theory and write a research paper linking a particular topic of interest to them to larger questions about rights in a constitutional democracy.
Prerequisite: Third or fourth-year standing and POL 219 .
Instructor: Staff
POL 320 - Applied Policy Analysis 4 credits (Fall)
Cross-listed as: PST 320 . Topics change. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: Prerequisite for POL-320: POL 216 , POL 220 , PST 220 , POL 222 , POL 239 , or POL 250 and third or fourth-year standing. Prerequisite for PST-320: PST 220 .
Note: Not offered ever year.
Instructor: Staff
POL 350 - International Politics of Land and Sea Resources 4 credits (Spring)
Analysis of the international politics of the conflict between the developed nations of the North and the developing nations of the South for control of the world’s resources and over trade and environmental issues. The impact of national decision-making processes, international organizations, cartels, and multinational corporations. Case studies.
Prerequisite: Third or fourth-year standing and POL 250 , POL 251 , or POL 259 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Moyer
POL 352 - Advanced Seminar on the U.S. Foreign Policymaking Process 4 credits (Fall)
An in-depth study of the U.S. foreign and defense policymaking process, emphasizing international relations theory; case studies of recent important decisions; discussion of the role, structure, function, and power of the National Security Council, State Department, Defense Department, and CIA; conflict between president and Congress; impact of press, public opinion, lobbies, and elections.
Prerequisite: Third or fourth-year standing and POL 250 , POL 251 , or POL 259 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Moyer
POL 354 - Political Economy of Developing Countries 4 credits (Fall)
Following a brief examination of the main theoretical approaches taken in the study of development, students apply these approaches to a comparison of several less-developed countries. Emphasis on the interplay between domestic and international factors in the path to industrialization.
Prerequisite: Third or fourth-year standing and POL 250 , POL 251 , POL 257 , POL 258 , POL 261 , POL 262 (offered 2013 Spring), or POL 273 . ECN 111 is highly recommended.
Instructor: Driscoll
POL 355 - Courts and Politics in Comparative Perspective 4 credits (Fall)
What do constitutions say and how do they become enforceable documents? This seminar focuses on the politics of constitutional choice and interpretation. It looks at the political aims of constitution and the role of courts in enforcing these documents. It analyzes the political factors involved in judicial decisions and the political strategies that derive from them, as well as how constitutional meaning evolves and changes. Cases include Germany, France, Spain, United States, Canada, Russia, Argentina, and Mexico.
Prerequisite: Third or fourth-year standing and POL 216 , POL 219 , POL 239 , POL 255 , POL 258 , POL 261 , or POL 273 .
Instructor: Sala
POL 356 - Islam and Politics 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This course investigates the relationship between Islam and a variety of political outcomes, such as regime type, political violence, inequality, social tolerance, and political organization. Questions we explore include: what is “Islamism” and how did it arise as a political force? Why are so few Muslim-majority countries democratic? Are Islamic parties and organizations a threat or a resource for open politics? We take an empirical approach, examining scholarly analyses from a variety of methodological perspectives.
Prerequisite: Third or fourth-year standing and a 200-level course in comparative politics, MAT 115 or MAT 209 .
Instructor: Lussier
POL 395-01 - Advanced Special Topic: Voting Rights and Election Policy 4 credits (Spring)
This course examines the politics and history of voting rights and election policy in the US. Many essential aspects of a democracy are related to the fundamental right to vote. Voting rights will be defined broadly to include voter registration, ballot access, the casting of votes, and other matters of election administration. Principles of fair elections and the design of elections will also be covered.
Prerequisite: POL 216 , POL 219 , POL 222 , POL 237 , or POL 239 .
Instructor: Hess
POL 395-02 - Advanced Special Topic: Advanced Seminar in Comparative Politics 4 credits (Fall)
A research-oriented advanced course in comparative politics. The first half of the course will examine a selection of primary theories and methodological approaches taken in comparative politics. In the second half of the course, students will develop an independent research project that builds on earlier work conducted at the 200-level. The course emphasizes empirical political science employing a range of qualitative and quantitative approaches.
Prerequisite: POL 255 , POL 257 , POL 258 , POL 261 , POL 262 , or POL 273 . Completion of MAT 115 or MAT 209 strongly recommended.
Instructor: Lussier
POL 395-02 - Advanced Special Topic: Advanced Seminar in Comparative Politics 4 credits (Spring)
A research-oriented advanced course in comparative politics. The first half of the course will examine a selection of primary theories and methodological approaches taken in comparative politics. In the second half of the course, students will develop an independent research project that builds on earlier work conducted at the 200-level. The course emphasizes empirical political science employing a range of qualitative and quantitative approaches.
Prerequisite: POL 255 , POL 257 , POL 258 , POL 261 , POL 262 , or POL 273 . Completion of MAT 115 or MAT 209 is strongly recommended.
Instructor: Lussier
POL 395-03 - Advanced Special Topic: Public Opinion and Political Behavior 4 credits (Spring)
This course examines public opinion and political behavior in American politics, and it facilitates your own semester-long research project. The course is divided into two parts. The first provides an overviews of the contours of public opinion-including attitude stability and change, ideology, approval toward national institutions, and vote choice-as well as trends in political participation. The second focuses on the elements of good research design as you develop your own project.
Prerequisite: POL 216 , POL 237 , POL 239 , or POL-295 Political Psychology (offered Fall 2017) and MAT 115 , SST 115 , or MAT 209 .
Instructor: DawkinsPsychology
PSY 113 - Introduction to Psychology 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
An introduction to principles of psychological science and inquiry. Major topics of psychology are covered with consideration of different approaches psychologists take to describe, predict, and explain behavior. Emphasis is placed on theory, research, and application. Laboratory work is required.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Staff
PSY 214 - Social Psychology 4 credits (Fall)
Survey of contemporary experimental social psychology. Topics include: attribution theory, social cognition, stereotypes, attitudes, prosocial behavior, aggression, group processes, and applied social psychology. Attention given to interaction between theoretical development and empirical measurement. Laboratory work is required.
Prerequisite: PSY 113 . Prerequisite or co-requisite: MAT 115 /SST 115 or MAT 209 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Sinnett
PSY 220 - Decision-Making 4 credits (Spring)
An examination of cognitive biases and heuristics that describe how people think about information when making decisions under uncertainty. We examine social, emotional, and behavioral influences across laboratory and real-world situations such as medical decisions and jury verdicts, and tools for helping people make better decisions (e.g., computers, formulas, and decision trees).
Prerequisite: PSY 113 and MAT 115 /SST 115 or MAT 209 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Gibson
PSY 222 - Industrial Psychology 4 credits (Fall)
An investigation of individual differences, learning, and motivation in the context of the work setting. Topics include testing theory, training techniques, and motivational theories.
Prerequisite: PSY 113 and MAT 115 /SST 115 or MAT 209 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Lopatto
PSY 225 - Research Methods 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
This course describes experimental designs and attendant statistical techniques. Students learn to use quantitative methods to pose meaningful questions to data. Topics include between-group and within-group designs, analysis of variance for main effects and interactions, the adaptation of statistical inquiry to less than optimal situations, and critical thinking about research methods.
Prerequisite: PSY 113 and MAT 115 /SST 115 or MAT 209 .
Instructor: Staff
PSY 231 - Sensation and Perception 4 credits (Fall)
This course pursues the psychological questions of how the body detects sensory information and of how the mind integrates this information into a coherent interpretation of experience. This course will showcase psychological questions of perception that enlist approaches and perspectives possibly including, but not limited to, the physiology and behavior of natural systems (e.g., us), appreciation of art and music, the engineering of smart devices (e.g., robots), and remaining challenges. Laboratory work may be required.
Prerequisite: PSY 113 . Prerequisite or co-requisite: MAT 115 , SST 115 or MAT 209 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: D. Kelty-Stephen
PSY 232 - Human-Computer Interaction 2 credits (Fall or Spring)
See CSC 232 .
PSY 233 - Developmental Psychology 4 credits (Spring)
This course explores psychological development from the prenatal period through adolescence. Major theoretical perspectives on the nature of developmental change are considered with a focus on empirical research and application of each perspective. Topics include physical, cognitive, emotional, and social development. Laboratory work is required.
Prerequisite: PSY 113 and MAT 115 /SST 115 or MAT 209 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Ellis
PSY 243 - Behavior Analysis 4 credits (Spring)
The course studies behavior as it occurs in its environmental context. Topics in learning and motivation are analyzed through the experimental approach of behavior analytic psychology. Topics include classical and operant learning, choice, self-control, and extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Laboratory work is required.
Prerequisite: PSY 113 and MAT 115 /SST 115 or MAT 209 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Lopatto
PSY 246 - Physiological Psychology 4 credits (Fall)
An introduction to the physiological control of behavior. Course content: (a) general introduction to neuroanatomy and neurophysiology; (b) neuroregulatory systems, motivation, and emotion; (c) perceptual and motor systems; and (d) processes of learning, memory, and cognition.
Prerequisite: PSY 113 . One semester of biology is recommended.
Instructor: Rempel-Clower, Tracy
PSY 248 - Abnormal Psychology 4 credits (Spring)
The study of psychopathology. Emphasis is given to experimental models and the underlying psychological processes of abnormal behavior. Some attention is given to treatments. The course is structured around the categories of the DSM-5.
Prerequisite: PSY 113 . MAT 115 /SST 115 or MAT 209 is recommended.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Ralston
PSY 250 - Health Psychology 4 credits (Fall)
A survey of the psychological and social processes that contribute to health and illness. Topics include health-compromising and health-promoting behaviors, stress and coping, managing chronic illness, and patient-provider communication. Laboratory work is required.
Prerequisite: PSY 113 . Prerequisite or co-requisite: MAT 115 /SST 115 or MAT 209 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Staff
PSY 260 - Cognitive Psychology 4 credits (Spring)
This course explores the experimental research on human thinking, knowing, and remembering. Topics include attention, memory, reasoning, problem-solving, language, and individual and cultural differences in cognition. Laboratory work is required.
Prerequisite: PSY 113 and MAT 115 /SST 115 or MAT 209 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Gibson
PSY 295-01 - Special Topic: Health Psychology Across Lifespan 4 credits (Fall)
In this course we will explore psychological and social processes that contribute to physical health and wellness across the life span. We will focus on the development of thoughts and behaviors, such as risk taking, eating, and physical activity that contribute to health outcomes. We will explore how stress, coping, and thriving contribute to physical health. We will examine psychological responses to chronic and terminal illness. Finally, we will consider strategies of health promotion.
Prerequisite: PSY 113 .
Instructor: Ellis
PSY 295-01 - Special Topic: The Self 4 credits (Spring)
This course reviews classic theories and current issues regarding the psychology of self and identity, defining the uniquely human self and its functions. The structure, content, and consequences of the self are covered with an emphasis on writing, and discussion that deconstructs and analyzes the arguments underlying these concepts. Students will examine work from various subfields that inform the creation of the self, its biological underpinnings, and it social cognitive functions.
Prerequisite: PSY 113 .
Instructor: O’Malley
PSY 295-02 - Special Topic: Cross-cultural Psychology 4 credits (Fall)
Psychological findings are often presented as if they are universal. In this course we will examine theories and processes in cognition, perception, language, development, and mental health from a cross-cultural perspective. There will be a focus on examining universality and difference across culture and on the interactions between psychology subfields (e.g., the influence of language on cognition). Students will read primary and secondary literature and be evaluated on discussion, written reflections, and exams.
Prerequisite: PSY 113 .
Instructor: E. Kelty-Stephen
PSY 311 - History of Psychological Theories 4 credits (Fall)
Historical and philosophical origins of contemporary schools of psychology are considered. The student analyzes the nature of psychological theory and the methods used to disconfirm theories, as well as the reasons for the emergence and decline of schools of psychological thought.
Prerequisite: Two psychology courses numbered 200 or above, and MAT 115 /SST 115 or MAT 209 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Lopatto
PSY 315 - Advanced Social Psychology: Cross-Cultural Differences in Self-Construal 4 credits (Spring)
This seminar focuses on the construction of independent versus interdependent selves in cultures descendent from East Asian versus Western European historical and philosophical traditions. We will consider sources of these differences, as well as a variety of social consequences. This will provide the foundation for examining lay theories about the causes of behavior and considering the extent to which behavior is differentially determined by the person or the situation in different cultural contexts.
Prerequisite: PSY 214 and PSY 225 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Sinnett
PSY 317 - Personality Psychology 4 credits (Spring)
A survey of classical and contemporary approaches to understanding healthy adult personalities. Emphasis will be placed on the trait approach, the coherence of personality across time and situations, beliefs about the self, social aspects of personality, and empirical research methods used to study personality. Laboratory work may be required.
Prerequisite: PSY 225 and two additional psychology courses numbered 200 or above.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Sinnett
PSY 332 - Advanced Developmental Psychology 4 credits (Fall)
An advanced investigation of substantive topics in developmental psychology. Emphasis is placed on theory and research. Laboratory work may be required.
Prerequisite: PSY 225 , PSY 233 , and one additional psychology course numbered 200 or above.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Ellis
PSY 334 - Adult Development 4 credits (Fall)
A consideration of human development during adulthood with emphasis on models and empirical work that illustrate factors that constrain and optimize development. Topics covered may include memory, dementia, personality, and social roles. Laboratory work may be required.
Prerequisite: PSY 225 and two psychology courses numbered 200 or above.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Ellis
PSY 335 - Psychology of Motivation 4 credits (Fall)
In-depth investigation of a selected topic in the area of motivated behavior as addressed from a variety of psychological perspectives (e.g., physiological, behavioral, social, cognitive, developmental). The focus will be on critical analysis methodologies, empirical evidence, and theoretical approaches through examination of the primary literature. Laboratory work may be required.
Prerequisite: PSY 225 , and PSY 246 or NRS 250 plus one additional psychology course numbered 200 or above.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Tracy
PSY 336 - Advanced Behavioral Neuroscience 4 credits (Spring)
A laboratory-centered introduction to advanced topics in behavioral neuroscience and basic research techniques used to investigate brain-behavior relationships. Participants will gain experience in stereotaxic neurosurgery, psychopharmacology, and various behavioral measures. A research-team approach is used for both the literature discussion and the laboratory activities each week.
Prerequisite: PSY 225 and PSY 246 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Rempel-Clower
PSY 337 - Psychological Measurement 4 credits (Fall)
Students will learn about methods of test development, the statistical analysis of test data, and social implications of testing. In lab, students will develop testing instruments and learn multivariate data analysis. Topics covered include intelligence and personality testing, systems of behavioral observation, regression, factor analysis, and theories of test construction.
Prerequisite: PSY 225 and two additional psychology courses numbered 200 or above.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Ralston
PSY 345 - Psychopharmacology 4 credits (Spring)
An investigation of the biological mechanisms and behavioral effects of psychoactive substances. Topics covered will include principles of pharmacology, research methods in psychopharmacology, mechanisms of drug action, drug abuse and addiction, and clinical applications. Required laboratory work using animal models will focus on the use of behavioral tools to characterize drug effects and the use of pharmacological tools for understanding brain-behavior relationships.
Prerequisite: PSY 225 and NRS 250 or PSY 246 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Tracy
PSY 348 - Behavioral Medicine 4 credits (Fall)
This course describes psychophysiological and behavioral principles and methods in the context of the biopsychosocial model of health and illness. Topics include behavioral pathogens, stress, pain, psychoneuroimmunology, and behavior management. Laboratory work may be required.
Prerequisite: PSY 225 and PSY 243 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Lopatto
PSY 349 - Counseling Psychology 4 credits (Fall)
A survey of major counseling theories and techniques, with emphasis on the key concepts, the role of the counselor, therapeutic goals, and the main techniques derived from each theory. Issues pertaining to the ethical application of counseling approaches to diverse populations will be a major focus throughout. Class time will focus on the merits of each approach through review of research literature. Further, students will learn basic counseling skills through observation, case study, and supervised role-plays. Laboratory work may be required.
Prerequisite: PSY 225 and PSY 248 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Ralston
PSY 355 - Psychology of Language 4 credits (Fall)
An examination of experimental psycholinguistics. Topics include how humans perceive, comprehend, and produce language; research with brain-damaged individuals; language acquisition; and the role of memory and cognition on processing language. Laboratory work may be required.
Prerequisite: PSY 225 and PSY 260 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Gibson
PSY 360 - Advanced Cognitive Psychology 4 credits (Fall)
An in-depth examination of primary research on variable topics within cognitive psychology. Past offerings of this course concerned applying the working memory model, specifically central executive functions, to issues concerning reasoning, attention, language, metacognition, aging, prospective memory, frontal lobe functioning, and mental disorders.
Prerequisite: PSY 225 and PSY 260 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Gibson
PSY 370 - Multicultural Psychology 4 credits (Fall)
This course surveys the psychological research on culture, ethnicity, race, and minority status in the United States. Emphasis will be placed on developing an understanding of the experiences of non-white ethnic minorities through the study of empirical research. Topics will vary and may include: racial identity, racism, acculturation, health disparities, and mental health issues.
Prerequisite: PSY 225 and two additional psychology courses numbered 200 or above.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Staff
PSY 395-01 - Advanced Special Topic: Longitudinal & Time-Series Analysis w/Lab 4 credits (Spring)
This course covers statistical models for data sampled repeatedly from the same participants over time. This couches statistical concepts in the (often interdisciplinary) practical applications that inspired them and addresses how they help test behavioral, medical, or psychological hypotheses. We will consider how different analyses of over-time data depend on theories of development and have implications for growing interest in data science.
Prerequisite: PSY 225 and two additional PSY courses at the 200-level.
Instructor: D. Kelty-Stephen
PSY 495 - Senior Seminar 4 credits (Spring)
A critical exploration of topics of both historical and contemporary significance in psychology with intense interrogation of the field’s diverse perspectives and methods.
Prerequisite: Senior psychology majors.
Instructor: StaffReligious Studies
REL 101 - Studying Religion: Judaism and Christianity 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This course introduces Religious Studies by exploring the diverse ways that Jews and Christians have sought to shape themselves, in body and soul, as individuals and as members of communities dedicated to God. We will make use of a wide range of primary and secondary sources to explore the histories, practices, texts, and ideas that constitute these religious traditions; to consider how Christians and Jews have represented themselves and how scholars today use historical, critical methods to understand and explain these traditions.
Prerequisite: First or second-year standing.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Roberts
REL 102 - Studying Religion: America 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This course introduces Religious Studies by focusing on religious traditions in “America.” Students will gain knowledge about the history and development of some of the major religious traditions in the United States, such as Christianity, Judaism and Buddhism. Exploring “religion” and “America” as sites of contestation over meaning, identity, and purpose, students also gain the skills to analyze perspectives, interests, and issues of representation.
Prerequisite: First or second-year standing.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Rietz
REL 103 - Studying Religion: the Middle East 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This course introduces religious studies through examination of the Middle East. We will begin by exploring the intertwined development of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam through topics such as myths or origin, the Crusades, and medieval interactions in the Mediterranean region. We will then turn to religion in the modern Middle East, focusing on issues like European colonialism, Christian missionary movements in the Middle East, and the development of the nation-state in the region.
Prerequisite: First or second-year standing.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Elfenbein
REL 104 - Studying Religion: India 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This course introduces Religious Studies through Indian traditions, especially Hinduism and Buddhism. Together we will learn each religion’s basics so that we can ask bigger questions about self, society, and religion as such. That is, we want to know: what do religions teach us about religion itself and its role in society, history and individual lives? We will find answers by examining case studies such as Tibetan monks, Gandhi’s religious politics, Muslim healers, and American yoga. The course argues that studying religion is fundamental to becoming an educated, world citizen for the twenty-first century.
Prerequisite: First or second-year standing.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: T. Dobe
REL 105 - Studying Religion: East Asia 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This course explores the dynamic cultural landscape of East Asia, providing an overview of religion as it has been constructed in the states that are today known as China, Japan and Korea. Moving beyond the paradigms of practice defined as the singular traditions of Confucianism, Daoism, Shintoism and Buddhism, the course delves into unnamed traditions, and practices that are across traditions, in order to provide students with tools to resist simplistic understandings of religious identity.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Holmes-Tagchungdarpa
REL 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: Nonviolent Action for Social and Religious Change 2 credits (Spring)
Work directly with a leading, international expert on Nonviolent social movements, Srdja Popovic, to analyze present-day conflicts and social change. The course emphasizes strategic elements of nonviolent tactics such as cyber security as well as religious dimensions, questions, histories. Students will have the opportunity to put their creative approaches to nonviolent direct action into practice. Sponsored by the Wilson Center for Innovation and Leadership.
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Dates: January 23 to March 8, including intensive weekend January 26, 27. 1/2 semester deadlines apply.
Instructor: T. Dobe
REL 211 - The Hebrew Bible 4 credits (Fall)
The history, religion, and thought of the Hebrew-Jewish people as recorded in scripture. Special attention given to the formation of this literature and to the rise and development of major biblical motifs.
Prerequisite: REL 101 , REL 102 , REL 103 , REL 104 , REL 105 or second-year standing.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Rietz
REL 214 - The Christian Scriptures 4 credits (Spring)
The history, religion, and thought of early Christianity as recorded in the New Testament. Special attention to the formation of this biblical literature, the theology of the various writers, and the development of major New Testament motifs in relation to the Hebrew Bible.
Prerequisite: REL 101 , REL 102 , REL 103 , REL 104 , REL 105 , or second-year standing.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Rietz
REL 216 - Modern Religious Thought 4 credits
A study of the way 19th- and 20th-century philosophers and theologians have criticized and reconceptualized religion in light of the intellectual currents, social changes, and historical events that continue to shape Western culture.
Prerequisite: REL 101 , REL 102 , REL 103 , REL 104 , REL 105 , or second-year standing.
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Roberts
REL 220 - The Traditions of Islam 4 credits
An examination of the spirit of Islam as presented in the Qur’an, the Sunna of the Prophet, Islamic law, theology, and mysticism. Special attention given to the status of women in Islam. Contemporary movements within the Islamic world discussed.
Prerequisite: REL 101 , REL 102 , REL 103 , REL 104 , REL 105 , or second-year standing.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Elfenbein
REL 225 - The Buddhist Tradition 4 credits
An examination of the classical doctrines and practices of Nikaya and Mahayana Buddhism and their historical developments in various social and cultural contexts in Asia and the West.
Prerequisite: REL 101 , REL 102 , REL 103 , REL 104 , REL 105 , or second-year standing.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Gilday
REL 226 - Religious Traditions of India 4 credits
Indian religion is marked by ongoing dialogues among the South Asian traditions we call Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, and Islam. The interaction between these traditions shows the ways each has defined itself independently and in response to challenges presented by the others. This course will introduce the historical and philosophical foundations for these traditions, as well as familiarize students with these intersecting traditions as living religions. The course will include special attention to the role of women and the links between religion and politics.
Prerequisite: REL 101 , REL 102 , REL 103 , REL 104 , REL 105 , or second-year standing.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: T. Dobe
REL 227 - Global Christianities 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Christianity has grown explosively in Africa, Latin America and Asia in recent time. This course explores these new Christian traditions and histories by focusing on one central question - Is Christianity a western religion? Answers will come harder than many assume. In today’s world, the phrase “white Christian” now is in fact as strange as “Swedish Buddhist” still sounds to many.
Prerequisite: REL 101 , REL 102 , REL 103 , REL 104 , REL 105 , or second year standing.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: T. Dobe
REL 228 - Gods of Bollywood 4 credits (Fall)
From the mystical Upanishads to the rain-drenched saris of Bollywood heroines, the sacred, the erotic and the spectacular have long been intertwined in South Asia. This course will explore themes of love, performance and identity in India both historically and by using Bollywood films as visual texts. We will examine religion’s intimate connections to culture, gender and meaning in the modern world as we ask, “What is Indian about Indian Cinema?”
Prerequisite: REL 101 , REL 102 , REL 103 , REL 104 , or second-year standing.
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: T Dobe
REL 240 - Religion is Everywhere 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
The course will use interdisciplinary approaches to explore and engage the world around us to create new knowledge. Categories, such as religion, that scholars use to organize and study the world will be applied to other aspects of human life. This course will examine things like sports, rock and roll and Coca Cola as religion, and, in turn, consider how that study helps us to think differently about what is commonly called religion.
Prerequisite: REL 101 , REL 102 , REL 103 , REL 104 , REL 105 , AMS 130 , or second year standing.
Instructor: Rietz
REL 241 - Religion in U.S. Public Life 4 credits (Spring)
This course explores debates in the United States over the place of religious discourse in public and political life. Topics include the nature of public discourse, the role of the citizen as a religious and moral actor, ideas of fairness and justice, and interpretations of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Prerequisite: REL 101 , REL 102 , REL 103 , REL 104 , or second-year standing.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Roberts
REL 266 - Apocalyptic “Sectuality” 4 credits
What is the meaning of this age? Are we standing at the dawn of a golden age in history? Or are we at the brink of global destruction and the end of history? In this class, we will take an interdisciplinary approach to examine selected apocalyptic movements and texts in an attempt to understand how meaning is constructed. We will discuss several early Jewish and Christian apocalyptic texts and communities as well as modern apocalyptic communities.
Prerequisite: REL 101 , REL 102 , REL 103 , REL 104 , or second-year standing.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Rietz
REL 267 - Islam in the Modern Era 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
See HIS 267 .
Note: Not offered every year.
REL 268 - Islam and Gender 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Cross-listed as: HIS 268 . This course explores Islamic discourses about wo/men and gender in Islam, focusing attention on the processes by which the Muslim community has articulated and policed gender-specific ideals over time, particularly as they relate to: community identity, conceptions of cultural authenticity, the interpretation of the foundational sources of Islam and legal traditions. We will give significant attention to these issues as they pertain to 19th and 20th century debates about “re-forming” Muslim women.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 , REL 101 , REL 102 , REL 103 , REL 104 , REL 105 , or second-year standing.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Elfenbein
REL 295-01 - Special Topic: Religious Violence and Nonviolence 4 credits (Spring)
This course examines the often surprising intersections between violence and nonviolence in and around religious traditions. We will focus on Islam, Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism, as we engage theories of violence, nonviolence and social change. The course will be framed historically, critically, and practically at the intersection of religious identity, peace studies and postcolonial critique. Together we will debate questions of terrorism, anticolonial and anti-racist revolution, militant nonviolence and the embodied practice of conflict transformation.
Prerequisite: REL 101 , REL 102 , REL 103 , REL 104 , REL 105 , or second-year standing.
Instructor: T. Dobe
REL 295-01 - Special Topic: The Life of the Qur’an 4 credits (Fall)
This course explores the life of the Qur’an as a text and cultural object. We explore literary and other aspects of the Qur’an and how Muslim communities have brought the Qur’an to life throughout history. In addition to reading selections of the Qur’an, we will see how the Qur’an receives expression in material, visual, and aural culture.
Prerequisite: REL 101 , REL 102 , REL 103 , REL 104 , REL 105 , or second-year standing.
Instructor: Saba
REL 295-02 - Special Topic: Intersections of Religion, Self, and Society 2 credits (Spring)
Cross-listed as: HUM 295-02 and SST 295-02 . This course combines academic and co-curricular, religious life perspectives to explore the place of religion in understandings of the self and the social settings of which we are a part. We will begin with sociological questions on religion in public life and move toward an examination of religion in campus culture at Grinnell College, using our own small community/communities as a field/s for thinking together about these complex intersections.
Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
Instructor: Elfenbein, Shorb
REL 295-02 - Special Topic: The Crusades in the Middle East 4 credits (Fall)
Cross-listed as: HIS 295-02 . What did it feel like to get crusaded? In this course, we will examine the roughly two-century period from the First Crusade in 1095 to the final expulsion of Latin Crusaders from the Middle East in 1291. Our explorations will center on the perspectives of the invaded, rather than the invaders. How did Muslims, Jews, and Easter Christians of the medieval Middle East respond to the presences of the Frankish invaders from Europe?
Prerequisite: REL 101 , REL 102 , REL 103 , REL 104 , REL 105 , HIS 100 , or ssecond-year standing.
Instructor: Saba
REL 295-03 - Special Topic: Spirituality 4 credits (Spring)
Over the past two hundred years, the discourse of “spirituality” has moved from the edges of theological and philosophical reflection on the essence of religion and the intersection of western and eastern religions, to become a way of thinking and living beyond religion, as “spiritual, not religious”. Where does “spirituality” come from? What are the various meanings it holds for people? How is it contemporary practices of selfhood, political engagement, and economic investment?
Prerequisite: REL 101 , REL 102 , REL 103 , REL 104 , REL 105 , or second-year standing.
Instructor: Roberts
REL 295-04 - Special Topic: Religion in Modern China 4 credits (Spring)
The course surveys the main religious issues in China from the late imperial period to the present. It examines a number of topics, including the status of local and foreign religions, the political control of new religious movements, the relationship between religious institutions and the state, the impact of modernization, the rise of religious tourism, and the resurgence of traditional Chinese religions. Students explore the multifaceted religious life in modern China by reading the primary and secondary sources, analyzing films, and studying the extant religious artwork.
Prerequisite: REL 101 , REL 102 , REL 103 , REL 104 , REL 105 , or second-year standing.
Instructor: Y. Chen
REL 295-05 - Special Topic: Zen Buddhism 4 credits (Spring)
Chan-more popularly known as Zen-is one of the most popular modes of Buddhist traditions. The course explores the history, doctrine, literature, institution, and art of Chan and Zen Buddhism in Asia and in the United States. It includes reading and discussion of religious, cultural, and political issues related to the development and transmission of this renowned tradition. It is divided into four main sections: (1) Chinese Chan, (2) Japanese Zen, (3) American Zen, and (4) Chan/Zen and Art. Students will become acquainted with the origins of the Chan school in China, the development of Zen in Japan, and Zen’s transformation in the United States. The purpose of the first three sections is to survey how various factors have shaped contemporary views of Zen. The final section of the course is to survey how various factors have shaped contemporary views of Zen. The final section of the course examines Chan/Zen style of paintings and literature.
Prerequisite: REL 101 , REL 102 , REL 103 , REL 104 , REL 105 , or second-year standing.
Instructor: Y. Chen
REL 311 - Theory and Method in the Study of Religion 4 credits (Fall)
This seminar focuses on the history and assumptions of the comparative method in the study of religion and culture. This genealogical narrative involves a critical examination of a variety of sources and perspectives on religion leading up to and emerging from the European Enlightenment, including the development of various methodological and critical positions in the modern study of religion during the 19th and 20th centuries. Readings from a wide range of contemporary scholarship will illustrate the state of the field today.
Prerequisite: Third-year or fourth-year standing and declared major.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Gilday, Roberts
REL 326 - Anthropology of Religion 4 credits
See ANT 326 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
REL 352 - Philosophy of Religion 4 credits (Spring)
Cross-listed as: PHI 352 . How do we understand “religion” in the 21st century? Is the world becoming more secular? More religious? Does this distinction even work anymore? How might ideas like “saint” and “sacrifice” and “spiritual discipline” help us think and act ethically and politically in the contemporary world? This course explores the ways recent philosophers and theologians have answered such questions by turning to the resources of the Continental philosophical tradition (Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Derrida, Irigaray, etc.) in order to reconceptualize religion, philosophy, and ethics after the “death of God.”
Prerequisite: REL 216 and REL 311 , or two 200-level philosophy courses.
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Roberts
REL 394 - Advanced Topics in Religious Studies 4 credits (Spring)
An advanced intensive seminar devoted to selected topics in religious studies. Topics have included mysticism, South Asian saints, and religion and democracy. This seminar may be repeated for credit if content is different. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: REL 311 ; additional prerequisites may vary depending on topic.
Instructor: Staff
REL 394-01 - Advanced Topics in Religious Studies 4 credits (Spring)
This seminar serves as the culmination of the religious studies major. Working closely with department faculty, students build on previous work, drawing especially on Theory and Method, to plan and execute a capstone research project that reflects their specific interests in the field. Class sessions alternate between group discussion of select common readings, mentored project meetings, class presentations, and research/writing/production time. The seminar concludes with public presentation of projects.
Prerequisite: REL 311 .
Instructor: Elfenbein
RUS 295-01 - Special Topic: The Cold War: Russia and the US 2 credits (Spring)
Cross-listed as: RES 295-01 . This course will explore the Cold War between the U.S. and Russia from its origins in the mid-1940s to its dramatic end in recent years. It will analyze how relations between these nations and their leaders affected perceptions of the other and consequent actions during the 45 years that the Cold War dominated American foreign policy.
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Dates: January 22 to March 14. 1/2 semester deadlines apply.
Instructor: StaffRussian
RUS 101 - Beginning Russian I 5 credits (Fall)
Intensive treatment of elementary Russian grammar, with special emphasis on pronunciation, basic conversational ability, and thorough coverage of contrastive English-Russian grammar. Conducted primarily in Russian. Meets five times a week.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Staff
RUS 102 - Beginning Russian II 5 credits (Spring)
A follow-up course to RUS 101 , stressing the further study of grammatical usage and the development of reading and speaking ability. Conducted in Russian. Meets five times a week.
Prerequisite: RUS 101 .
Instructor: Staff
RUS 200 - Conversational Russian 1 credits (Fall and Spring)
Conversation on free and structured themes, with topics drawn from different aspects of Russian and American life. May be repeated once for credit when content changes.
Prerequisite: RUS 102 .
Instructor: Staff
RUS 221 - Intermediate Russian I 4 credits (Fall)
A reading and discussion course whose materials focus on contemporary culture with emphasis on the continuing study of grammatical concepts introduced in RUS 101 and RUS 102 .
Prerequisite: RUS 102 .
Instructor: Staff
RUS 222 - Intermediate Russian II 4 credits (Spring)
A continuation of RUS 221 . Materials focus on major aspects of Russian culture, with added emphasis on the study of more complex grammatical concepts.
Prerequisite: RUS 221 .
Instructor: Staff
RUS 247 - The Russian Short Story 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Cross-listed as: GLS 247 . The development of the genre from its beginning in 18th-century Sentimentalism to the present. Authors could include Karamzin, Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol, Tolstoy, Chekhov, Bulgakov, Babel, Olesha, Makanin, Tolstaya, and Sorokin. Conducted in English.
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Herold
RUS 248 - The Russian Novel 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Cross-listed as: GLS 248 . Study of the Russian novel in the 19th century. Novels by Pushkin, Lermontov, Dostovesky, Turgenev, and Tolstoy considered. Conducted in English.
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Not offered every year.
Plus-2 option available.
Foreign language option available in Russian for course and +2.
Instructor: Greene, Herold
RUS 251 - The Theme of the African in Russian Literature and Culture 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
A survey of the varying cultural and racial perceptions of Africa and people of African descent as reflected in 19th- and 20th-century Russian literature. Examines tsarist and Soviet history of Russian intellectual contact with the African diaspora and the impact of this contact on the development of the “African” as a literary theme in Russian and Soviet literature. Conducted in English.
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Not offered every year.
Plus-2 option available.
Foreign language option available in Russian for course and +2.
Instructor: Greene
RUS 261 - History of Russian Film 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Cross-listed as: GLS 261 . From Eisenstein to Tarkovsky and beyond. Through lecture, discussion, and film analysis, this course will examine the fascinating and controversial history of Russian film from Andrei Tarkovsky’s sophisticated Solaris to the daring films of the glasnost era; from chernukha (noir) films of the 1990s to contemporary cinema about the Russian mafia, New Russians and the dramatic search for a new Russian identity. Conducted in English.
Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Armstrong
RUS 281 - Major Russian Writers 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Cross-listed as: GLS 281 . This course examines the artistic oeuvre of a single major Russian writer within the context of his cultural and literary milieu. The following writers could be offered in alternating years: Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Gogol, Chekhov, Nabokov. Conducted in English. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Plus-2 option available in Russian.
Instructor: Staff
RUS 313 - Present through the Past: Russian Cultural Traditions 4 credits (Fall)
A focused examination of the major cultural icons and clichés that have developed in Russian culture through the centuries, with an emphasis on what an educated speaker of the language should know, including the “enigmatic Russian soul,” the Bronze Horseman, the Russian “troika,” the battleship Aurora, the communal apartment, Soviet bards, and Pussy Riot among other cultural phenomena. Advanced grammar study is combined with critical reading of a range of literary and cultural texts. Conducted in Russian
Prerequisite: RUS 222 .
Instructor: Staff
RUS 389 - Advanced Russian Seminar 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
A cultural and linguistic study of a selected Russian cultural phenomenon from the 19th, 20th, or 21st century. Variable content, with discussion centered on a single author, genre, or literary period; intellectual history; popular culture; a cultural period; or analysis of an aspect of culture (film, theatre, music, etc.). Conducted in Russian. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: RUS 313 .
Note: May be repeated 3 times with varied content.
Instructor: Staff
RUS 389-01 - Advanced Russian Seminar 4 credits (Fall)
Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita will be the focus of this seminar. Each class will be devoted to discussion of several chapters: their literary and political themes, as well as intertextual connections and cultural allusions. Towards the end of semester students will also read critical works about the novel in Russian. Conducted in Russian.
Prerequisite: RUS 313 .
Instructor: Vishevsky
RUS 389-01 - Advanced Russian Seminar 4 credits (Spring)
This course will focus on an in-depth study of Russian in the context of translation. In the first part of the course, students will work on a series of common texts drawn from Russian culture, with the goal of creating collaborative translations. In the second part of the course, students will choose texts relevant to their own interests, and create an individual, annotated translation. Of particular interest will be creative works or primary sources that students can use to support or further their research in other courses. Theoretical approaches to translation will form an important aspect of the seminar, as will the study of advanced syntax and grammar. Throughout the course, students will work to develop their skills in speaking, reading, writing, and aural comprehension. Conducted in Russian.
Prerequisite: RUS 313 .
Instructor: HeroldRussian, Central & East European Studies
RES 291 - Perspectives in 20th-Century Central and Eastern European Literature 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Cross-listed as: GLS 291 . This course examines and analyzes a number of 20th-century works in translation from several countries of Central and Eastern Europe (primarily, but not limited to, the former-Yugoslavia, Poland, and the former-Czechoslovakia). Attention is devoted to how writers, artists, poets, and others attempt to understand and respond to major events and issues in specific countries, and in the region in general: war, genocide, revolution, totalitarianism, political repression, clashes of religion and culture, and quests for (self-)identity.
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Not offered every year.
Plus-2 option available.
Foreign language option available in Polish for course and +2.
Instructor: Armstrong
RES 295-01 - Special Topic: The Cold War: Russia and the US
See RUS 295-01 .
RES 495 - Senior Research or Seminar 2 or 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
An interdisciplinary senior seminar or senior research project for students completing the concentration in Russian, Central and Eastern European Studies. May be repeated in consecutive semesters by a student pursuing a single research project. Credits earned each semester must fulfill program requirements as specified in program description.
Instructor: StaffSocial Studies
SST 115 - Introduction to Statistics 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
See MAT 115 .
SST 125 - Introduction to Geographic Information System (GIS) Analysis 2 credits (Fall)
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) deals with the analysis and management of geographic information. This course offers an introduction to methods of managing and processing geographic information. Emphasis will be placed on the nature of geographic information, data models and structures for geographic information, geographic data input, data manipulation and data storage, and spatial analytic and modeling techniques.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Brottem
SST 140 - Medieval and Renaissance Culture: 1100–1650 4 credits (Spring)
See HUM 140 .
SST 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: The Cypher Paradigm: Hip Hop, Education, Praxis & Action 1 credits (Spring)
Cross-listed as: HUM 195-02 and MUS 195-01 . This course examines the power of the Hip Hop Elements (MCing, DJing, graffiti, breakdancing, beatboxing, beatmaking, archiving) as a framework for teaching, learning and activism agency. Grounded in inquiry, students will develop an analytic lens used to “close read” the world and respond to social justice issues on artistic and educational platforms. We will merge an exploration of the cultural, social, political histories of Hip Hop with liberatory pedagogical practices. Includes art creation and performance. This course is sponsored by the Wilson Center for Innovation and Leadership.
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Dates: April 2 to April 30. Short course deadlines apply.
Instructor: Sellers
SST 195-02 - Introductory Special Topic: Human Centered Design for Global Social Transformation 1 credits (Spring)
Join social entrepreneur and societal engineer Megan Goering ‘08 to build awareness, skillset, and practice in Human Centered Design, a set of tools for bringing big ideas into reality in a way that works for real people. Every student will leave with a framework for quickly moving big ideas from concept stage to implementation in creating more creative, strategic, egalitarian and co-active campaigns and new products and programs for social change. This course is sponsored by the Wilson Center for Innovation and Leadership.
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Dates: January 30 to February 22. Short course deadlines apply.
Instructor: Goering
SST 195-02 - Introductory Special Topic: Overview of Finance and Valuation .5 credits (Fall)
This is a short course offered by financial expert Stephen Moyer ‘79. The course will cover a range of topics in the areas of financial analysis and corporate valuation. The course will be of particular interest to students who are interested in preparing for careers in investment banking and other areas of financial services. Through interactive case studies, students will learn how to build a 3S project, conduct corporate valuations, perform credit analyses, structure LBO transactions and IPOs. Students will be required to complete between 10 and 15 hours of readings and assignments outside of the scheduled class periods. Students will receive the required readings well in advance of the intensive course.
Prerequisite: ECN 326 or complete (with documenting certificates) two online courses offered by Coursera (www.coursera.org): Introduction to Financial Accounting and More Introduction to Financial Accounting.
Note: Dates: August 31 to September 3. Short course deadlines apply.
Instructor: S. Moyer
SST 195-03 - Introductory Special Topic: SOLIYA Cross-Cultural Dialogue .5 credits (Fall)
Develop 21st century skills such as multi-cultural awareness, empathy, and cross-cultural communication. Gain an understanding of the perspectives of others around the world concerning current socio-political issues and why they may feel the way they do. Students meet (virtually) with the same group of 10-12 students from institutions around the world to share opinions, hear others’ ideas about critical issues, and build contacts with future leaders.
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Dates: November 6 to November 30. Short course deadlines apply. S/D/F only.
Instructor: C. Moisan, Duke
SST 195-03 - Special Topic: Winning Social Movement Campaigns 1 credits (Spring)
Using the groundbreaking legislative victories by domestic workers (2010) and nail salon workers (2015) in New York State, and other contemporary campaigns as examples, the course will look at the nuts and bolts of a successful campaign and its impact on creating a collaborative ecosystem that can help strengthen individual organizations and build a larger movement to implement and sustain campaign victories. Students will have hands-on experience, choosing an issue of their interest and collectively designing a campaign. This course is sponsored by the Wilson Center for Innovation and Leadership.
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Dates: April 9 to May 7. Short course deadlines apply. S/D/F only.
Instructor: Ranjit
SST 195-04 - Introductory Special Topic: Leadership in a Future of Automation and Income Inequality 1 credits (Spring)
Explore how we can contribute to and guide our global society in an almost certain future of widespread automation, job displacement, and accelerated inequality in the distribution of key resources. Hear from entrepreneurs, historians of the industrial revolution, and futurists. Students will leave with a framework and direct experiences with leadership models that allow for transformative activism in a time of grave uncertainty and certain change. Sponsored by the Wilson Center for Innovation and Leadership.
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Dates: February 5 to February 26. Short course deadlines apply.
Instructor: Mellin
SST 200 - Creative Careers: Learning from Alumni 2 credits (Spring)
Cross-listed as: HUM 200 and SCI 200 . This course is sponsored by the Wilson Center for Innovation and Leadership. Alumni with significant careers in the humanities, social sciences and sciences return to campus to talk about the ways that they shaped their successes and learned from their failures after graduation. Leadership and career-focused readings together with discussions with 18 or more alumni will help students think creatively about their possible futures. The second goal of this course is to help create a multi-generational network or community of Grinnell alumni, faculty, and current students in order to enhance our potential for changing the world to promoting the stewardship of Grinnell College.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Caulkins
SST 202 - Sustainability and Social Responsibility in Organizations 4 credits (Spring)
See ANT 202 .
SST 213 - Media and the Middle East 4 credits (Fall)
See HUM 213 .
Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
SST 221 - Geographical Analysis and Cartography 4 credits (Fall)
This course offers an introduction to geographic information systems (GIS) for spatial analysis and mapmaking. Covers topics such as the nature of geographic information, georeferencing, GIS data models, cartographic design, geovisualization, the Global Positioning System, and basic and intermediate spatial analysis skills. Focus on understanding the major underlying theories and concepts of GIS, which students put into practice using GIS software applications in lab exercises and an independent research project.
Prerequisite: MAT 115 /SST 115 or equivalent.
Instructor: Staff
SST 225 - Applied Geographic Information Systems Analysis (GIS) 4 credits (Spring)
This course will represent a continuation of SST 125 by enabling students who took that course to build upon and apply the skills they learned through an independent project of their choice. The course will also include a limited number of advanced labs as well as lectures on GIS conceptualization and project planning. Students will be expected to learn and implement intermediate to advanced GIS methods in their projects.
Prerequisite: SST 125 . Prerequisite or co-requisite: MAT 115 or SST 115 .
Instructor: Brottem
SST 295-01 - Special Topic: Politics of Human Thriving 2 credits (Fall)
See HUM 295-01 .
SST 295-01 - Special Topic: Politics of Human Thriving 2 credits (Spring)
See HUM 295-01
Instructor: Elfenbein
SST 295-02 - Special Topic: Intersections of Religion, Self, and Society 2 credits (Spring)
See REL 295-02 or HUM 295-02 .
SST 295-02 - Special Topic: Preparing for Off-Campus Study: Methods Training for the Field 1 credits (Fall)
This course is for students applying for, going on, or thinking about off-campus study who would like tools, methods, and ideas to make the most of it. The instructor will introduce students to basics of ethnographic research methods. Some issues covered include: establishing personal goals; interacting with people of other cultural backgrounds; observing and interviewing; documenting and reflecting on an experience; and responding ethically to a student’s unique position.
Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
Note: Dates: September 4 to November 13. Half-semester deadlines apply.
Instructor: Larson
SST 295-03 - Special Topic: Ethical Leadership in the Workplace 2 credits (Fall)
This course address several ethical issues in the workplace settings focusing on effective communication and analytical skills toenhance leadership skills. Students will frequently discuss case studies, engage in group work, and prepare memos. Sponsored by the Wilson Center for Innovation and Leadership. Taught by Steve Weiss ‘77, retired general counsel and senior VP of MidAmerican Energy Company, and retired administrative law judge at the Illinois Commerce Commission.
Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
Note: Class time will run from 90-105 minutes per week. Dates: September 11 to November 20. Half-semester deadlines apply.
Instructor: Weiss
SST 295-03 - Special Topic: Journal PublishingL Building Community in the Prairie Region 4 credits (Spring)
See HUM 295-03
SST 295-04 - Special Topic: Real Life Entrepreneurship 1 credits (Fall)
Students will gain insights into business realities and pitfalls. They will learn the basics on how to start and build a company as an entrepreneur, and how to improve a business segment within an existing company as an intrapreneur. Through examination of real-life scenarios, students will become familiar with common sense approaches to business, with thinking-outside-the-box, and with the lowest-common-denominator method of thinking. This is a Wilson Center for Innovation and Leadership sponsored alumni short course; taught by Sanjay Khanna ‘85.
Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
Note: Dates: October 24 to November 09. Short course deadlines apply.
Instructor: Khana
SST 295-04 & 05 - Special Topic: Multi-Media Workshop through a Virtual Global Grinnell 1 credits (Spring)
This online course uses multi-media methods to foster engagement with peoples and places where students are studying, especially off-campus. Drawing inspiration from the tradition of ethnographic film and its concerns with styles and forms of representation, as well as with current conversations about cross-cultural collaborations through technology, the course pursues three objectives. First, students will develop skills with tools of representation including still images, audio, and short videos. Second, students will use their multi-media assignments and comparative discussion with Grinnellians in other locations to deepen ties with different peoples and places. Third, the course provides a unique cross-program platform that creates a new form of global Grinnell learning community.
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Section 04 - Dates: January 22 to March 16/ 1/2 semester deadlines apply.
Section 05 - Dates: April 2 to May 11. 1/2 semester deadlines apply.
Instructor: Larson
SST 350 - Freedom and Authority: The Control of Reproduction 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
See HUM 350 .
Note: Not offered every year
Sociology
SOC 111 - Introduction to Sociology 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
Introduction to basic concepts, theory, and methods concerning human behavior and social structure. Special attention is paid to the scope and limitations of sociological analysis and the major empirical areas of investigation in sociology.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Staff
SOC 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: Global Health: Costa Rica, Cuba, Denmark, and the United States 4 credits (Spring)
Cross-listed as: BIO 195-02 . This Global Learning Program course focuses on issues relating to health. Utilizing international course-embedded travel, we will examine the nexus of global health care systems in terms of actual health outcomes, the training of health care workers, social and economic policy, and the state. The content of the course covers material examining well established health care systems, and will include travel to Costa Rica, Cuba and Denmark for site-specific research and learning opportunities. First-year students interested in this course will need to complete an application in addition to doing the normal registration process. The application materials are available on GrinnellShare (Academics>Centers>Center for International Studies>Global Learning Program). Students selected to participate in the Global Learning Program will be required to pay a $400 participation fee (most other required travel expenses will be covered). This fee will be added to the student tuition bill and will be due by the first day of classes. If payment of this fee causes you financial concern, please contact Gretchen Zimmermann in the Financial Aid Office to discuss loan options to cover this additional cost of attendance.
Prerequisite: TUT-100 and application. Open to first-year student only.
Instructor: Ferguson, Hinsa-Leasure
SOC 220 - Sociology of Global Development 4 credits (Fall)
Provides an overview of global development with a focus on the social consequences of development practices for people living in developing countries. Also examines the ways in which consumption patterns in industrialized countries affect global development. Case study approach used to consider the effects of general practices on specific locales, such as the role of powerful forces (economic, political, ideological, religious) in shaping living conditions at the local level.
Prerequisite: SOC 111 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Inglis
SOC 235 - Class, Capital, and Inequality 4 credits (Spring)
In this course we will engage with traditional and contemporary debates on the role of class in allocating resources and influencing life chances within capitalist society. We will necessarily interrogate the ways in which an individual’s class position informs and reflects experiences associated with race, gender, and sex, among other identities. Ultimately, we will consider the weight or force of class analytics in explaining social and economic inequality in the modern era.
Prerequisite: SOC 111 , ECN 111 , or POL 101 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Inglis
SOC 240 - Social Movements 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This survey of contemporary social movements focuses on the processes of social and cultural change, collective group behavior, and the process and critiques of reform revolution and social movement change. We will examine definitions and theories of reform, revolution, and social movements and make comparative analyses of goals and ideologies and their development, inside and beyond the boundaries of the United States.
Prerequisite: SOC 111 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Haenfler, Oberlin, Scott
SOC 242 - Deviance and Social Control 4 credits (Fall)
Analysis of the causes and control of deviant behavior, e.g., alcohol and drug abuse, suicide, assault, and sexual deviance. Topics include how definitions of deviance change, how people become deviant, how deviant groups are organized, and how transactions among deviants occur.
Prerequisite: SOC 111 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Haenfler
SOC 248 - Self and Society 4 credits (Spring)
The study of human social interaction. Focuses on how people interact in small groups, change their beliefs, interpret behavior, develop a sense of identity, and construct their social worlds. Attention to the social psychology of collective behavior and of everyday life.
Prerequisite: SOC 111 or PSY 113 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Staff
SOC 260 - Human Sexuality in the United States 4 credits (Spring)
How do individuals develop attractions, make sexual choices, and define and enact their own sexuality? How do institutions and organizations influence, shape, and constrain sexual attitudes and behaviors? This course will examine the social construction of human sexuality in the United States with particular attention to gender, sexual orientation, commercial sex, and sexual education.
Prerequisite: SOC 111 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Erickson
SOC 265 - Sociology of Health and Illness 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
An examination of the social contexts of health, illness, and medical care, focusing on the debates and contrasting perspectives of medical sociology. Topics include the social, environmental, and occupational factors in health and disease; the politics surrounding breast cancer and the AIDS epidemic; the patient’s perspective on illness; the development of the health professions and the health work force; ethical issues in medicine as they relate to medical technology; and alternatives to current health care organizations. Emphasis is given to how the social categories of gender, race, social class, and sexual orientation affect both illness and health care.
Prerequisite: SOC 111 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Ferguson
SOC 270 - Gender and Society 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
A sociological analysis of how gender is constructed and transformed in American society. This course will explore how both men and women come to know themselves as gendered beings, how gender is produced through interactions, in the media, in the workplace, and in families.
Prerequisite: SOC 111 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Erickson
SOC 275 - Race and Ethnicity in America 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Introduces students to sociological perspectives on race, ethnicity, and racial inequality in American society. Examines the historical development of race-based barriers to achievement, the emergence and persistence of racial inequality, the character of racial beliefs, resistance to racial oppression, and current problems in American race relations. Emphasis on understanding individual attitudes and behaviors in relation to the structure of social institutions.
Prerequisite: SOC 111 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Scott
SOC 280 - Bound By Borders: A Sociology of Law and Migration 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Laws bind people to each other and to their territory, and this has far-reaching consequences for people’s life chances and identities. Migrants test these ties and have been the motivation for the emergence and reconfiguration of important laws governing who can come and go. How and why this happens interests not only policymakers, government officials, and judges, but also individuals included or excluded by borders and scholars trying to understand laws. This course takes a sociological view of global migration to explain the origins of law and its effects.
Prerequisite: SOC 111 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Cook-Martín
SOC 285 - Contemporary Sociological Theory 4 credits (Fall)
Contemporary sociological theory considered in light of classic theories. Emphasis on the conceptual adequacy and the logical consistency of major contemporary theoretical perspectives.
Prerequisite: SOC 111 and at least one 200-level sociology course.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Inglis, Haenfler
SOC 291 - Methods of Empirical Investigation 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Cross-listed as: ANT 291 . An overview of the research process in sociology and the social sciences, with emphasis on problems of epistemology, research design, techniques of sampling, methods of data collection, principles of measurement, basic methods of data analysis, and ethical considerations. This course will explore these topics through hands-on experiences including guided work on research methods through lab exercises.
Prerequisite: SOC 111 or ANT 104 ; and at least one 200-level sociology course; and MAT 115 , SST 115 , or MAT 209 (preferred), or MAT 336 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Oberlin
SOC 292 - Ethnographic Research Methods 4 credits (Fall)
See ANT 292 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
SOC 295-01 - Special Topic: American Whiteness 4 credits (Fall)
This course examines whiteness as a specific racial formation with a distinct history, proactive and defensive politics, and institutional and personal investments. To give whiteness a specific content, we will study the historical expansion of the category, the formal and informal advantages that accrue to whiteness, the internal diversity of the category, and the continuous challenges to whiteness, both conceptual and material. We will use historical, economic and sociological studies of racial formation to “capture” whiteness in production and re-creation cycles. The course will make use of empirical and advances theoretical insights to gain leverage on studying whiteness.
Prerequisite: SOC 111 .
Instructor: Erickson
SOC 295-01 - Special Topic: Migrants, Refugees, and Diasporas 4 credits (Spring)
Cross-listed as: AMS 295-01 and PCS 295-01 . This course offers an introduction to the study of voluntary and forced migration from a global and transnational sociological perspective. In the last century, large-scale cross-border movement of people has transformed both receiving and send societies, from patterns of majority and minority relations to national identity formation. Drawing from cases in Europe, North America, and Asia, we will examine the behaviors and interactions of actors and institutions as they grapple with changes in their societies due to global migration. We will also explain the construction of migrants, refugees, and diasporas as social problems and seek to understand the sociological underpinnings of power in issues such as assimilation, development, loyalty, racism, and security. The emphasis of this course is on exploring theoretical and methodological debates in order to develop our critical and reflexive capacities in analyzing the global forces that shape our increasingly interconnected societies.
Prerequisite: SOC 111 .
Instructor: Quinsaat
SOC 295-02 - Special Topic: Analyzing Religion: A Sociological Agenda 4 credits (Fall)
Does religion oppress or liberate? Is it alienating , or a force of social solidarity? Are we becoming more secular? This is a course in the social scientific study of religion as a social institution. It examines behavior, belonging and belief, as well as the relationships and processes that sustain religious systems of meaning. Examines cults, new religious movements, capitalism, and the impact of religion on other social categories such as gender, sexuality, and ethnicity.
Prerequisite: SOC 111 .
Instructor: Snook
SOC 295-02 - Special Topic: Sociology of Tourism 4 credits (Spring)
This course is an examination the relationship between tourism and social life from a sociological perspective. The root idea being that it is natural for human beings to make contact with other human beings and for societies to create leisure institutions to engage in cultural exchange and enjoyment. But what is the consequence of “instiutionalizing” tourism as an industry? This course will examine tourist practices, they are shaped, and how they are made meaningful within a social context. As we investigate why people travel, how they travel, and what they do while they are “on the road”, we will see that tourism is not on the margins of the social world, but rather deeply interconnected with everyday social life, from the personal to the global. Through scholarly readings, discussing and writing, we will explore the ways tourism is a material, symbolic, and political representation of many of the features of contemporary society’s achievements and ills:modernity and post modernity, consumption and cultural commoditization, the aestheticization of everyday life, democratization and social inequalities, questions of authenticity, embodiment and identity, gender relations, technology, social mobility and power, and globalization. We will review the tourist-related discourses and research literatures to instill the directions these conversations are taking in the 21st century. Finally, we will study the tourist practices in each country we visit as a unique case study of global leisure life.
Prerequisite: SOC 111 .
Instructor: Scott
SOC 295-03 - Special Topic: Comparative Social Inequalities 4 credits (Spring)
This course provides an overview of global social inequalities from a sociological perspective with an emphasis on public policies. It explores the extent, causes, and consequences of social and economic inequalities worldwide and their trends. We begin with a brief discussion of key concepts and measures used to assess inequalities across countries. Then we will look into inequalities as experienced in different world regions and in different dimensions and axes of stratification, including economic inequalities, social class and mobility, education, gender, race and ethnicity, and age. The course also covers modernization theory, dependency theory, world systems theory as well as approaches to Welfare State models and post-colonial and decolonial perspectives to understand past and current realities across the globe.
Prerequisite: SOC 111 .
Instructor: Padilla
SOC 295-04 - Special Topic: Gender Across the Globe 4 credits (Spring)
Gender is a main organizer of social relations and symbolic systems across the globe. Departing from the basic concepts around the sociology of gender, this course draws on comparative literature including ethnographic, sociological, political, and activist examples, to examine issues of gender from a global perspective. In this sense, gender is not the sole point of interest, but it will be grasped in connection with race, ethnicity, social class, geopolitical location, among other factors. This course departs also from the social and historical construction of gender toward a cross-cultural and interdisciplinary perspective, bringing into discussion how globalization processes and neoliberalism have influenced the understanding of gender and the challenges to feminism and feminist agenda.
Prerequisite: SOC 111 or GWS 111 .
Instructor: Padilla
SOC 300 - Practicum in Applied Sociology 4 credits (Spring)
Students work 10 hours each week at internship sites in Grinnell or surrounding areas (personal transportation required). Class discussions and assignments focus on internship experiences from a sociological perspective. Students must request and submit an application for this course from the Sociology Department in November. Students needing assistance in securing an internship are encouraged to visit the Center for Careers, Life, and Service prior to fall break.
Prerequisite: Any two 200-level or above sociology courses and third-year or fourth-year student status with good academic standing.
Instructor: Ferguson
SOC 320 - The Family 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
A survey of the family from a sociological perspective, focusing on recent transformations of the family. Topics include historical origins of the family, traditional marriage and alternative processes of mate selection and family formation, parenting, divorce, family violence, racial-ethnic variations in family experience, and gay and lesbian families.
Prerequisite: Any 200-level or above sociology course.
Instructor: Ferguson
SOC 350 - NGOs: Organizing To Do Good 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
People often join together in nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations to accomplish good for themselves or others. This seminar focuses on how such organizations are structured and how they operate. We will explore how NPOs and NGOs resemble, and differ from, other organizational forms in mission, leadership, organizational change, environmental constraints, and effects on members. Attention to practical managerial challenges. Cases may include human service organizations, community action agencies, foundations and funding organizations, fraternal organizations, nonprofit colleges, and international humanitarian NGOs.
Prerequisite: At least two 200-level sociology courses and third-year or fourth-year standing.
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Hunter
SOC 360 - Work in the “New” Economy 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
What is the “new” global economy and how has it transformed the landscape of the American economy in the last three decades? How do individuals experience the consequences of globalization in their lives, both as workers and consumers? This course will examine recent transformations in the U.S. economy — including deskilling, downsizing, and the rise of the service sector — and will consider how each of these “transformations” relate to issues of identity, community, family formation, structural inequality, and national culture.
Prerequisite: Two 200-level sociology courses.
Instructor: Erickson
SOC 370 - Members Only: A Political Sociology of Citizenship 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Citizenship is a legal tie between an individual and a particular state, but it is also a category to which rights are attached, a basis for identification, and a set of participatory practices. It is shaped and expressed in the political sphere (through schools, military service, museums, censuses, and surveillance), the economic sphere (in labor markets), and in the civil sphere (through conventional participatory practices such as voting and the emergence of new domains of political engagement such as grassroots movements). This course takes a comparative-historical approach and uses the lens of political sociology to examine cases across the globe.
Prerequisite: Two 200-level sociology courses.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Foreign language option available in Spanish or Portuguese for course and +2.
Instructor: Cook-Martín
SOC 390 - Advanced Studies in Sociology 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Seminar in current issues of sociological theory and research. Content of the course announced each year. May be repeated for credit with permission of instructor. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: Varies; at least one 200-level sociology course and third-year standing.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Staff
SOC 390-01 - Advanced Studies in Sociology: Global Feminism 4 credits (Spring)
This course explores a range of contemporary women’s issues from the perspective of transnational feminism. Through the lens of sociology, we will examine women’s human rights, gendered law, women’s cultural and religious differences, the impact of global popular culture, economic globalization and women’s lives at home, in schools, in the military, and in the global economy. Moreover, we will explore the roots of their global activism against the legacies of colonialism, western imperialism, and the post-modern feminist agenda against world-wide institutional patriarchy. Questions to be addressed include: How have new feminisms emerged? What are the issues that have galvanized women across national and regional borders to challenge exploitation and oppression? What ways has feminism been related historically to nationalism, ethnocentrism, and imperialism? What are the successes and challenges of feminist transnational movements? And, how do women “save their own lives?” The course materials are drawn from five socio-political regions of feminist experience: America, South America, Europe, Africa, and Southeast Asia. Students will be challenged to analyze extensive scholarly and applied readings in the fields of Gender and Women’s Studies. Additionally, they will expand their critical thinking and writing skills about global current events, women’s transnational cultural and intellectual spaces, and formulate new approaches to feminist identity and activism.
Prerequisite: any 200-level Sociology course and third-year standing
Instructor: Scott
SOC 395-01 - Advanced Special Topic: Neoliberalism: Ideology, Crisis, and Resistance 4 credits (Spring)
The term “neoliberalism” is typically associated initiatives and strategies intended to recognize the functions of the state in line with corporate interests, and in ways that diminish life chances for poor and working people and increasing inequality, overall. But how did this shift in policy preferences come about? Where did it emerge, and why, and with what implications, domestic and global? What is “new” about neoliberalism? How does it differ from what came before? The course sets out to answer these questions beginning with a look into increased competition between industrial powers in the US and Western Europe in the 1970s and 1980s. The course continues with an assessment of the technological, financial, and communications innovations that followed, and which reverberate to this day. We will then seek to connect these innovations and related shifts in the functions of the state and actions of political and economic elites to a series of economic crises: Latin America, in the 1980s; Asia, in the 1990s; the United States, in 2008; and in Greece and China, more recently.
Prerequisite: SOC 111 , ANT 104 , ECN 111 , PHI 111 , or POL 101 .
Instructor: Inglis
SOC 399 - Directed Research 2 or 4 credits
See Directed Research.
Instructor: StaffSpanish
SPN 105 - Introduction to the Spanish Language I 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This course is intended for students with no previous or very limited training in Spanish. Through total immersion in the target language, students will develop communicative competence in order to be active users of the language and gain confidence in speaking and interacting in real life situations. Students will gain cultural competence in the Spanish-speaking world, including the US, by reading cultural texts, researching cultural topics, and learning about customs and values of Spanish-speaking peoples.
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Not regularly offered in the spring.
Instructor: Staff
SPN 106 - Introduction to the Spanish Language II 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
This course is for students who completed SPN 105 or were placed at the 106 level by the Spanish Department. Through total immersion, students will develop communicative competence in order to become active users of the Spanish language and gain confidence in speaking and interacting in real life situations. Students will gain cultural competence in the Spanish-speaking world, including the US, by reading cultural texts, researching cultural topics, and learning about Spanish-speaking peoples and their societies, histories, and cultures.
Prerequisite: SPN 105 .
Instructor: Staff
SPN 204 - Communication in Spanish I 1 credits (Fall and Spring)
Work on improvement of speaking skills. Discussion and conversation based on various audiovisual cultural materials. Conducted in Spanish.
Co-requisite: Concurrent enrollment in SPN 217 .
S/D/F only.
Instructor: Staff
SPN 205 - Communication in Spanish II 1 credits (Fall and Spring)
Work on improvement of speaking skills. Discussion and conversation based on various audiovisual cultural materials. Conducted in Spanish.
Co-requisite: Concurrent enrollment in SPN 285 .
S/D/F only.
Instructor: Staff
SPN 217 - Intermediate Spanish 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
Development of language skills through reading, oral practice, vocabulary building, grammar review, and short compositions. Materials include short literary, nonliterary, and visual texts. Conducted in Spanish. SPN 204 may be taken concurrently.
Prerequisite: SPN 106 or placement by department.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Staff
SPN 285 - Introduction to Textual Analysis 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
Development of students’ critical and interpretive commentary on literary and cultural texts from Latin America and Spain. Continued emphasis on language skills. Materials include fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and film. Conducted in Spanish. SPN 205 may be taken concurrently.
Prerequisite: SPN 217 or placement by department.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Staff
SPN 295-01 - Special Topic: Creative Writing Workshop: Fiction 2 credits (Spring)
A creative writing workshop conducted entirely in Spanish, this course guides students as they produce a highly-polished, original work of fiction. Through the perspective of craft, students analyze fiction by accomplished authors, practice storytelling techniques via focused writing exercises, and revise a short story from its rough, exploratory state to a focused final draft. The course emphasizes revision, creativity, and experimentation, while providing an introduction to basic fiction writing concepts and methodologies.
Prerequisite: SPN 285 .
Instructor: D. Perez
SPN 311 - Constructing Identities in Independent Latin America 4 credits (Spring)
A study of 19th- and early -20th-century literature in Latin America. Focus on the creation of national, racial, and gender identities in the newly independent republics through the analysis of narrative, poetry, drama, essays, and film. Conducted in Spanish.
Prerequisite: SPN 285 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Benoist
SPN 312 - Women and Gender in Spanish Literature 4 credits (Fall)
This course introduces students to the works of prominent Spanish women writers from the 17th to the 21st century. While we will focus primarily on short stories, drama, and poetry, we will also consider films by women directors. Our readings will provide a representative sample of how women have developed as writers and individuals in Spain and how they have crafted gender issues into their writing. Conducted in Spanish.
Prerequisite: SPN 285 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Pérez
SPN 314 - Studies in Modern Spanish Literature 4 credits (Fall)
A study of poetic, dramatic, and/or narrative texts from 18th- to 20th-century Spain. Topics of examination may include Romanticism; Realism; the poetic generations of 1898, 1927, and 1950; the novísimos; or contemporary narrative. Close readings and discussion focus on aesthetic, ideological, and historical aspects of the texts. Conducted in Spanish.
Prerequisite: SPN 285 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Phillips
SPN 315 - Creativity and Dissidence in Modern Latin America 4 credits (Spring)
A study of selected, representative works from the 1920s through the 1960s. Emphasis on texts manifesting social conscience and artistic experimentation; treatment of the culture of protest and imaginative cultural expression. Consideration of poetry, narrative, and visual arts. Conducted in Spanish.
Prerequisite: SPN 285 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Aparicio
SPN 317 - Readings in U.S. Latinx Literature and Culture 4 credits (Fall)
This discussion-based course provides a broad approach to U.S. Latinx literature. We will explore filmic and literary texts that voice the multiple and varied experiences of different generations of U.S. Latinxs from different national origins and cultures. We will pay particular attention to the construction of identity in terms of race, gender, sexuality, and class; bilingualism and code-switching; the experiences of the exile, the immigrant, and the refugee; the marketing of the U.S. Latinx identity; and the construction of community. Texts and films may be in English (with some Spanish) while discussions and written work will be in Spanish.
Prerequisite: SPN 285 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Petrus
SPN 320 - Cultures of the Spanish-Speaking World 4 credits (Fall and/or Spring)
Examines diverse cultures of the Spanish-speaking world, including Latin America, Spain and the United States. May focus on one or multiple regions. Possible topics include: food, cultures, immigration, visual cultures. May use academic articles, film, literary texts, music. Taught in Spanish. Variable content. May be repeated for credit when content changes. Up to 8 credits may count toward the major. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: SPN 285 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Staff
SPN 320-01 - Cultures of Spanish Speaking World 4 credits (Spring)
Latin American Food and Cultural Identities. This interdisciplinary course focuses on the role of food and drink in the self-conception and construction of Latin American identities and uniqueness. In our discussions of Latin American “national” foods, we’ll also consider nationalism, nostalgia, and longing. Class materials will include fiction, poetry, academic and non-academic essays, film, and music.
Prerequisite: SPN 285 .
Instructor: Aparicio
SPN 320-01 - Cultures of the Spanish-Speaking World 4 credits (Fall)
Gender and Latinx Cultures in the US: Models and Expectations in Film. This course stems from the theory that gender is culture–a social construct (in)formed by models, patterns, and ideals that we observe and imitate. Gender construction is informed by many forms of media, but film has been of particular influence with respect to the transmission of gender ideals and expectations. In this course, using cultural studies methodologies, we will concentrate on representations of latinxs in the United States and the cultural messages that accompany these representations from the 40s to the present day. In particular, we will analyze the relation between representations and self-perceptions of latinx subjects through stereotypes and gender models.
Prerequisite: SPN 285 .
Instructor: Petrus
SPN 343 - The Art of Language 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
Study of Spanish grammar to improve ability to express oneself with ease. Students will review and strengthen their understanding and use of morphological and syntactic aspects of Spanish while developing their competence to explain how the structure of Spanish functions.
Prerequisite: SPN 285 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Valentín
SPN 377 - Modernization and Innovation in Contemporary Latin America 4 credits (Fall)
A study of selected, representative works since 1960, including internationally respected literature of the “Boom,” subsequent fiction, and recent poetic revolutions. Conducted in Spanish.
Prerequisite: SPN 311 , SPN 312 , SPN 314 , SPN 315 , SPN 317 , or SPN-295 on literature.
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Aparicio
SPN 379 - U.S. Latinx Identities and Sexualities 4 credits (Spring)
This interdisciplinary course focuses on Latinx sexualities and identities. This course will focus on literary analysis of a variety of genres and cultural texts that have served as inspiration and influence for diverse communities of Latinxs. Students will explore artistic and theoretical contributions by Latinx scholars and artists related to the construction, the performance, and the questioning of gender roles. We will study the relation between literary works and the formation and conceptualization of Latinx and Chicanx identities and communities. Finally, we will focus on artistic-intellectual interventions that reflect the heterogeneity of more contemporary Latinx and Chicanx communities, with special attention to the diversity of thought on gender and sexuality. At the end of the course, students will present their research on gender roles, power, and sexual hegemonies based on literary analysis of Latinx cultural texts. Texts will be in English, Spanish, or Spanglish. Class discussion and all written work will be in Spanish.
Prerequisite: SPN 311 , SPN 312 , SPN 314 , SPN 315 , SPN 317 or SPN-295 on literature.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Petrus
SPN 383 - The Latin American Colonial World 4 credits (Fall)
A study of the texts and debates surrounding initial encounters between Spaniards, indigenous and African peoples in the “New World,” and the establishment of Colonial culture and society. Spanish, indigenous, mestizo, and African perspectives are considered through the study of myth, narratives, poetry, autobiography, and film. Conducted in Spanish.
Prerequisite: SPN 311 , SPN 312 , SPN 314 , SPN 315 , SPN 317 , or SPN-295 on literature.
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Benoist
SPN 384 - Spanish Dialectology 4 credits (Spring)
This course will examine the history and diversity of the Spanish-speaking world, from both historical and synchronic perspectives. The diachronic perspective will focus on the historical, cultural, social, and linguistic factors that were involved in the origin of different Spanish dialects. The synchronic perspective will provide a linguistic description (phonological, morpho-syntactic, and lexical) of various Spanish dialects as spoken today. Students will work with oral and written texts produced in different varieties of Spanish in order to recognize those varieties and identify the linguistic features that characterize each of them.
Prerequisite: SPN 343 or LIN 114 and permission of instructor.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Valentín
SPN 385 - Studies in Contemporary Spanish Literature and Film 4 credits (Spring)
This course examines Spanish narrative and film from the 20th and 21st centuries to explore the development of a modern, global Spain. Topics discussed include Franco’s dictatorship, the democratic transition, human rights, and the place of cultural production in social movements for “historical memory.” Conducted in Spanish.
Prerequisite: SPN 311 , SPN 312 , SPN 314 , SPN 315 , SPN 317 , or SPN-295 on literature.
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Phillips
SPN 386 - Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Spanish Literature 4 credits (Spring)
This course examines medieval and early modern literature in its cultural and historical context. The specific topic of the course may vary to focus on a specific genre, author, or theme. Conducted in Spanish. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: SPN 311 , SPN 312 , SPN 314 , SPN 315 , SPN 317 , or SPN-295 on literature.
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Pérez
SPN 386-01 - Studies in Medieval & Early Modern Spanish Literature 4 credits (Spring)
This advanced seminar focuses on the literature produced in Spain and the Spanish American colonies between 1492 and 1700. The course will address issues of race, class, identity, and gender in early modern poetry, theater, prose, and visual texts. Close attention will be paid to the cultural and historical context of the era. Conducted in Spanish.
Prerequisite: SPN 311 , SPN 312 , SPN 314 , SPN 315 , SPN 317 or SPN 295 on literature.
Instructor: PérezStatistics Concentration
No Active Courses Available Technology Studies
TEC 154 - Evolution of Technology 4 credits (Spring)
To make wise decisions about future technologies, we must understand the past and the present: what drives and influences technological change? How do technologies affect individuals and society? How do we make decisions about technology? Who decides? Although individual section offerings will consider different technologies and issues, all offerings will explore such questions through readings and case studies from a variety of disciplines, along with writing and discussion.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Staff
TEC 215 - Solar Energy Technologies 4 credits (Spring)
An investigation of the technology related to the utilization and storage of solar energy, including consideration of scientific, technical, economic, and social concerns. Study of the broad energy resource and use picture, including calculations, followed by an in-depth study of solar thermal conversion, photovoltaic devices, photochemical conversion, biomass, and wind power. Underlying principles and quantitative reasoning stressed.
Prerequisite: CHM 129 or PHY 131 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Swartz
TEC 232 - Human-Computer Interaction 2 credits (Fall or Spring)
See CSC 232 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Theatre and Dance
THD 100 - Performance Laboratory 1 or 2 credits (Fall and Spring)
Guided participation, for major theatre and dance productions, in theatrical performance, choreography, assistant directing, stage managing, dramaturgy, or design and crew work on sets, lights, props, costumes, or makeup. Qualified students examine problems of production in the theatre while solving these problems in rehearsal and performance. May be repeated for credit.
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.
Note: (A maximum of 8 practica credits may count toward graduation.) S/D/F only.
Instructor: Staff
THD 104 - Dance Technique I 2 credits (Fall and Spring)
Beginning dance technique; the principles, terminology, basic history, developing a physical and kinesthetic understanding of concert dance techniques. Areas of emphasis include but are not limited to ballet or modern dance. Consult the Schedule of Courses for the specific area of emphasis each semester. May be repeated for credit.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Hurley
THD 111 - Introduction to Performance Studies 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
An examination of dramatic performance in its broadest cultural contexts. This foundational course is designed to encourage critical thinking about the inclusive field of performance and how it is created, including orality, festivals, living history museums, trials, political conventions, and sporting events. Students explore both texts and performance events to analyze “What makes an event performance?” and “How is performance made and understood?” Because knowledge is embodied as well as textualized, students will both write and perform components of their final class projects.
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Delmenico
THD 113 - Movement for the Performer 4 credits (Fall)
Practical exploration of movement and bodily-based trainings based on Nikolais and Laban techniques as an alternative means to theorize the integration of mind and body. Students develop greater physical awareness and articulation for stage, athletics and other applications. Studio-based exercises and activities investigate daily movement practices, improvisation and an introduction to composing in movement.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Miller
THD 115 - Theatrical Design and Technology 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
A hands-on, experiential introduction to the design elements of theatre and dance production. Topics include a history of Western theatre architecture and stage forms, scene painting, properties, lighting, sound, drafting, makeup, and costuming. Emphasis is placed upon the design and implementation of theatrical scenes from a variety of historic eras and the analysis of the ways in which the design elements influence performance style.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Thomas
THD 117 - Introduction to Acting 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
A practice-based exploration of the theories and techniques of acting. Using Stanislavksi’s seminal text An Actor Prepares as the foundation, students develop their skills at transforming dramatic texts from the page to the stage. The course culminates in publicly staged scenes.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Delmenico, Quintero
THD 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: Jazz-Tap Dance Technique, Repertory and Choreography 1 or 2 credits credits (Fall)
An exploration of Jazz-Tap dance technique, repertory, and choreography. Jazz or Rhythm Tap uses the whole body as a musical instrument and focuses on the production of sound as music. All forms of tap share common roots in Africa polyrhythms and European musical phrasing and body positions. In addition to learning social and concert dances from tap tradition and vernacular jazz repertory; we will look at filmed historical performances and tap history.
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Dates: October 30 to November 10. Short course deadlines apply. S/D/F only.
Instructor: Kilkelly
THD 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: Native American Performance: Playwrights + Mediamakers 4 credits (Spring)
Cross-listed as: HUM 195-01 . Cherokee lawyer and playwright Mary Kathryn Nagle connects performance with Native American policy and political reality, declaring “In a country where the Supreme Court continues to define us as ‘racially inferior,”heathens,’ and ‘savages,’ and in a country where redface remains a popular performance, the absence of our voices from the American stage constitutes nothing less than a constitutional crisis.” Nagle is one of the many prolific Native playwrights whose work deserve more attention from producers, publishers, and scholars–and one of many Native activists who also wage their battles through social media, launching for instance the hashtag #InsteadOfRedFace. From the podcast network Indian & Cowboy Media to the irreverent videos of the 1491s, to the music of Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, to the multimedia art of Sterlin Harjo and Mona Smith, to playwrights finding homes for their work on YouTube and/or incorporating multimedia into their plays, this course will examine works for both conventional stage and newer digital media venues. Students will also make digital and live media, specifically in collaboration with the new #InsteadOfRedFace Digital Commons.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Shook
THD 201 - Dramatic Literature I 4 credits (Fall)
Cross-listed as: GLS 201 . Study of major works in Western dramatic literature to 1850, with reference to cultural contexts, interpretive problems, and dramatic theory, beginning with Aristotle’s Poetics. Includes plays and performances (in translation) of Greek tragedy and Aristophanic comedy, English medieval cycle plays, Machiavelli, Marlowe, Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Tempest, Webster’s White Devil, Ben Jonson, Spanish Golden Age, Racine and Moliere, a Restoration comedy, the Brook Mahabharata, and Goethe’s Faust.
Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Mease, Delmenico
THD 202 - Dramatic Literature II 4 credits (Spring)
Cross-listed as: GLS 202 . Study of major works in Western dramatic literature from 1850 to the present, with reference to cultural contexts, interpretive problems, and dramatic theory. From the “classic moderns” of realism and naturalism through the Symbolists, Expressionists, Surrealists and Absurdists; dramatists and theorists include Ibsen, Chekhov, Strindberg, Yeats, Synge, Shaw, Buechner, Kaiser, Artaud, Pirandello, Lorca, Brecht, Sartre, Genet, Beckett, Grotowski, Weiss, Pinter, Cixous, and Stoppard.
Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Mease
THD 203 - American Theatre 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Cross-listed as: GLS 203 . A study of American theatre from the early 20th century to the present. Students examine a variety of different theatrical styles, ranging from plays by canonical authors (including O’Neill, Williams, Miller, Albee, Wilson, Mamet, and Shepard) to experimental works by artists who challenged the conventions of mainstream theatre (including Cage, Kaprow, Beck, Finley, and Wilson).
Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Quintero
THD 204 - Dance Technique II 2 credits (Fall and Spring)
Intermediate and advanced dance technique; physical and kinesthetic study involving more complex movement patterns and sequences, phrasing, musicality, and stylistic considerations. Areas of emphasis include but are not limited to ballet or modern dance. Consult the Schedule of Courses for the specific area of emphasis each semester. May be repeated for credit.
Prerequisite: THD 104 or equivalent experience.
Instructor: Hurley
THD 205 - Dance Ensemble 2 credits (Fall and Spring)
Dance Ensemble is a performing ensemble engaged in the development, rehearsal and production of contemporary dance works choreographed by faculty and guest artists. Exposure to diverse choreographic approaches provides the opportunity to expand technical, stylistic and interpretive range. Students gain collaborative skills through improvisation and the contribution of movement material to certain choreographic projects. Dance ensemble is open to students with previous dance and theatre background, and students interested in applying themselves as invested movers.
Prerequisite: Entry into Dance Ensemble takes place at an Audition/Informational Workshop held at the beginning of each semester. Course registration closes at end of Add/Drop period.
Note: (A maximum of 8 practica credits may count toward graduation.) S/D/F only.
Instructor: Miller
THD 210 - Contemporary Dance in a Global Context 4 credits (Fall)
Contemporary dance practices have been challenging deeply held beliefs on art and life since the early 19th century. This hard to define genre has roots in modern and post-modern dance theory, and draws from dance disciplines as diverse as Ballet, Modern, Bharantanatyam, Butoh, Hip-Hop; as well as other disciplines. This course explores origins, styles, icons, purpose, myths and key concepts of the form from a survey of work produced by contemporary choreographers across the globe.
Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Miller
THD 211 - Performance Studies: Traditions and Innovations 4 credits (Spring)
This course examines non-naturalistic forms of theatre and performance-making. It can explore the work of foundational avant-garde director/theorists and performance practices that have developed since the 1960s, including performance art, site-specific, and community-based theatre. It can also focus on postcolonial and non-Western performances, including textual and nontextual practices, and the ways in which Western and non-Western performance has intersected during the last century.
Prerequisite: Any 100-level Theatre and Dance course.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Delmenico
THD 217 - Intermediate Acting 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
An intensive performance laboratory for students to explore different modes of performance and further develop and refine their acting skills. With an emphasis on psychological realism, students stage a series of individual and group performances designed to enhance their critical engagement of performance as both the subject and method of their study.
Prerequisite: THD 117 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Quintero
THD 225 - Choreography: Developing Physical Ideas 4 credits (Spring)
This course focuses on the fundamentals and theories of choreographic processes explored through formal and experimental models and their socio-historical contexts. Improvisation and composition are used to explore the structural elements and movement vocabularies that are used to devise physical ideas for the stage that emerge as choreography and staged direction for theatrical works. Students will present their work in an end of the semester showing.
Prerequisite: THD 104 , THD 113 , or any 200-level Theatre and Dance course.
Instructor: Miller
THD 235 - Directing 4 credits (Fall)
A theoretical and practical investigation of the responsibilities and techniques of the director in the theatre. Classroom exercises are supplemented by readings addressing different theories of directing. The final project is the directing of a one-act play.
Prerequisite: THD 117 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Quintero
THD 240 - Design for Performance I 4 credits (Fall)
An exploration of the design fundamentals common to each facet of theatrical design: scenery, lighting, costumes, and makeup. Such elements as design procedure from conception to realization, research techniques and materials, period style, and design history are emphasized.
Prerequisite: THD 115 or ART 111 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Thomas
THD 245 - Lighting for the Stage 4 credits (Fall)
Introduces the student to the art of lighting design, process, and the practice of lighting the stage for the theatre, opera, dance, industrials, television, and video. Students develop the knowledge, vocabulary, and skills necessary to become a master electrician, assistant lighting designer, and beginning lighting designer.
Prerequisite: THD 115 or THD 240 , or ART 111 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Thomas
THD 295-01 - Special Topic: Choreolinguistics: Bridging the Art and Science of Language and the Body 4 credits (Spring)
See LIN 295-01 .
THD 295-02 - Special Topic: Just for You: Between Art and Performance 2 credits (Spring)
Cross-listed as: ART 295-02 . For this interdisciplinary course, eight students from Theatre and Dance, Art, and Music will explore the theoretical framework and creative process of staging performances for an audience of one as they work to blur the boundaries between the visual and performing arts. Students enrolled in the six-week short course will design and stage their own original work at the College during the first six weeks of the spring semester. They will then travel to Taiwan to collaborate with professors Craig Quintero and Andrew Kaufman and members of Riverbed Theatre in creating a site-specific performance/ installation at the Taipei Museum of Contemporary Art. Enrollment is limited to eight students and requires permission from Professor Kaufman or Quintero. Participants will be selected based on an audition/portfolio presentation that will be held on Tuesday, November 7th from 2-6 PM in the Wall Theatre. The sign-up sheet for auditions will be placed on the Flanagan Theatre callboard on November 1. If you have any questions, please contact [quintero]. Students selected to participate in this course will be required to pay a $400 participation fee (most other required travel expenses will be covered). This fee will be added to the student tuition bill and is due by the first day of classes. If payment of this fee causes you financial concern, please contact Gretchen Zimmermann in the Financial Aid Office to discuss loan options to cover this additional cost of attendance.
Prerequisite: Participants will be selected based on an audition/portfolio presentation that will be held on Tuesday, November 7th from 2-6 PM in the Wall Theatre. The sign-up sheet for auditions will be placed on the Flanagan Theatre callboard on November 1.
Note: Dates: January 30 to March 6. 1/2 semester deadlines apply.
Instructor: Quintero, Kaufman
THD 303 - Studies in Drama I 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Cross-listed as: GLS 303 . A seminar-style course in dramaturgy, focusing on a central topic in the history and theory prior to 1850. The course will emphasize the development of methodologies and research strategies useful for the theatre practitioner and the researcher. Past topics for this variable-content course have included Greek Drama, Theory of Comedy (Aristophanes to Stoppard), English Medieval and Renaissance Drama; Hamlet and Revenge Tragedy, Shakespeare’s Comedies and Tragedies. May be repeated once for credit when content changes. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: May vary depending on topic but can include 200-level coursework in English, foreign languages, Classics, History, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Anthropology, Art, Theatre or dramatic literature/criticism/theatre history.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Mease, Delmenico
THD 304 - Studies in Drama II 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Cross-listed as: GLS 304 . A seminar-style course in dramaturgy, focusing on a central topic in the history and theory of theatre and performance. Studies in Drama II covers topics after 1850. The course will emphasize the development of methodologies and research strategies useful for the theatre practitioner and the researcher. Past topics for this variable-content course have included Ibsen, Strindberg, Chekhov; Beckett’s Prose and Plays; Beckett and the Theatre of the Absurd; British Drama since World War II; and Postcolonial Theatre. May be repeated once for credit when content changes. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: May vary depending on topic but can include 200-level coursework in English, foreign languages, Classics, History, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Anthropology, Art, Theatre or dramatic literature/criticism/theatre history.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Mease, Delmenico
THD 304-01 - Studies in Drama II: Ibsen/Strindberg/Chekhov 4 credits (Spring)
Cross-listed as: GLS 304-01 . Ibsen/Strindberg/Chekhov. Modern drama begins with the late nineteenth-century Scandinavian playwrights Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg and the Russian Anton Chekhov. Like their contemporaries Kierkegaard, Marx, Nietzsche and Freud, the three “classical modern” dramatists explore the construction of personal identity and relations with others, the structure of reality, the phenomena of time and change, the ethics of freedom and responsibility. We will study representative plays from the major stages in each playwright’s development, including Ibsen’s early epic poetic dramas (Brand and Peer Gynt), the realistic so-called “well-made plays” of modern life (Doll House, Ghosts, Rosmersholm, Wild Duck, Hedda Gabler), and the final experiments with ironic “Romantic” myth and Expressionism (Masterbuilder, When We Dead Awaken); Strindberg’s Greater Naturalism in the “battle of the sexes” plays (Miss Julie and The Father), the Inferno spiritual crisis, and the expressionistic late plays, To Damascus, Dance of Death, Dream Play and Ghost Sonata; Chekhov’s farces and the great ironic dramas Sea Gull, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters and Cherry Orchard.
Prerequisite: Previous coursework in literature or permission of the instructor (courses in philosophy, history, religious studies, art, anthropology, English and European cultures and literatures would also be appropriate).
Instructor: Mease
THD 310 - Studies in Dance 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
A combined seminar and practice course for advanced study of a selected topic in dance or contemporary performance that will be detailed each time the course is offered (topics are announced in the Schedule of Courses). The course will employ a variety of materials and methods for advanced research in dance as a cultural, social, historical, and artistic phenomenon. Topics could include: Dance and Technology, Community and Performance; Dancing Gender and Sexuality; and The Choreography of Political Protest. May be repeated once for credit. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: Any 200-level Theatre and Dance course.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Staff
THD 311 - Studies in Performance 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
An advanced-level, variable-topic course that combines theoretical and historical study with practical investigation. Possible topics include adaptation and performance of literature or nonfiction and devised or community-based performance. Students will work as individuals or within groups to research, create, and present a final performance project.
Prerequisite: THD 201 , THD 202 , THD 203 , THD 210 , or THD 211 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Staff
THD 317 - Advanced Performance 4 credits (Spring)
This variable topic course focuses on classical and contemporary modes of performance. Possible areas of emphasis include Greek, Elizabethan, French neoclassic, contemporary docudrama theatre, Asian theatre, and performance art. Course emphasis is on scene study, performance, and directing. May be repeated when content changes.
Prerequisite: THD 210 , THD 211 , THD 217 , or THD 235 .
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Quintero
THD 340 - Design for Performance II 4 credits (Fall)
An in-depth exploration of designing for the stage, with the specific area of design (scenery, lighting, costumes) announced each time the course is offered. Emphasis is on script or dance “text” analysis and the evolution of design from first reading to first performance.
Prerequisite: THD 240 .
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Thomas
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